Street Kings
by Blockbusterism
Summary: Danny returns to Green Grove after spending five years in Arizona with his grandmother for joyriding and property destruction, only to find himself immersed in the seedy, underground life of drift racing while attempting to reconnect with his former best friends.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Twisted or any of its characters.

A/N: A few major details have been modified for this AU, particularly Danny did not kill Tara (she does not exist here, for that matter) and he never went to juvie. Basically, I was inspired by the film Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, so you may spot a few parallels between certain characters. There will be some slight technical details in the dialogue, but I'll try to make them as light as possible!

Comments and suggestions are much appreciated! Thank you for reading!

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**PROLOGUE**

**5 YEARS AGO**

The wooden gavel struck against the sounding block in a reverberating thud, jolting 12-year-old Danny out of his reverie. He had barely heard the terms "Arizona," "grandmother," and "five years" before the judge boomed "This case is closed. Meeting adjourned." He watched as the judge wasted no time raising himself from her leather seat before sauntering off towards the side door behind her.

Danny turned his head slightly and braved a quick glance at the forlorn yet relieved look on his father's face, before facing forward again, hands clutching at the material of his dress pants.

'Five years in Arizona with Grandma Lucy.' The thought bounced around in his mind, echoing to the point where his head began to throb. He felt the hand of his lawyer pat his shoulder and heard him whisper, "This is a very good deal, Danny. Much better than three years in juvie, right?"

Danny remained silent, only to offer a rigid nod in the lawyer's direction, promptly ignoring the subtle glare thrown at him in response. He raised his head slightly to find his parents standing over him.

"Son, I'm sorry but we all have to face the consequences of our actions," Vikram said, as he motioned for Danny to stand.

Danny's eyes darted around at the small courtroom, noticing that the lawyer was long gone and they were the only ones left. He spared a brief glance at his mother, who remained noticably silent throughout this entire process. He could still feel the anger radiating off of her through her tightly crossed arms, and made no attempt to appease her now.

Vikram glimpsed at his stoic wife before suppressing a sigh and wrapping an arm around Danny's shoulder as he led him out of the room and outside the courthouse. The sun was beginning to set, making way for biting cold to replace the chilly air that had settled in the afternoon. Danny suppressed a shiver as he drew his coat even closer to his small frame. The three made their way to Vikram's black Lincoln MZK, entered the vehicle, and rolled out of the parking lot and onto Maple Street.

"According to John, you leave first thing tomorrow morning so how about we head over to Johnny Cakes for a late lunch?" Vikram offered with a small smile, peering into the rearview mirror to look at his son seated in the back.

"Sure," Karen answered in a sticky sweet tone. "Let's also buy the boy a cake and a few parting gifts," her voice laced with bitter sarcasm.

"Karen, I—," Vikram began, one hand lifted in an attempt to calm his irate wife.

"Don't you start, Vikram!" Karen growled, narrowing her piercing blue eyes and pointing a rigid, manicured finger at her husband. "Even when your son is being punished by the law, you take up for him!"

"That's not—"

"Not what, Vikram!? Fair? Nice? I don't have to be either of things when your son stole _my_ car, went joyriding, and crashed it into the side of City Hall!"

"I WOULDN'T HAVE TAKEN THE CAR IF YOU HADN'T BEEN SUCH A HORRIBLE MOTHER!"

Danny's harsh words echoed inside of the vehicle, stunning the adults into momentary silence. Vikram sighed and shut his eyes briefly before running a hand through his once perfectly coiffed hair. The car slowed to a stop beneath a red light, allowing everyone a moment to reflect on what had just occurred.

Danny swallowed the bile that threatened to rise in his throat and blinked back the tears that pooled in his eyes before wrenching the door open and leaping out of the vehicle. Vikram scrambled to park the car before both parents quickly stepped out of the car only to find Danny's swiftly retreating form, his dress shoes pounding audibly on the sidewalk.

"Danny!" Karen shouted in frustration, posed to go after him in her six inch heels.

"Karen, stop. He knows what he's done and he just needs time to process all of this. Getting angry at him now when he's probably angry at himself won't help any," he said calmly as he wrapped one arm around her waist and another around her shoulders in an embrace. "And besides, how were you possibly going to catch up to him in those Louboutins of yours?" he chided her playfully as a grin stretched his handsome features.

Karen rolled her eyes yet she felt her anger slowly dissipate at his words. She uncrossed her arms and slowly exhaled, placing her head on his shoulder. They both stood in this position, ignoring the blatant stares from the townsfolk as they drove by and around the parked vehicle.

Danny continued to run, despite his surroundings blurring heavily through tears that streaked his round cheeks. When his legs threatened to give out, he slowed to a stop, taking lungfuls of the bitterly cold air before coughing violently at the icy sensation that tightened in his chest. He hunched over, hands on his knees, forcing himself to breathe through his nostrils before slowly glancing upwards to see where he was.

The fort.

Straightening himself rightwards, he dragged his feet towards it as he moved the sparse foliage that blocked the pathway. He pushed away the blue tarp that shielded the entrance and he stepped inside. Looking around at the toys, board games, and other knickknacks that he, Lacey, and Jo had collected and preserved over the years, he felt the tears forming in his eyes again before he blinked them away.

He crouched onto the ground, reflecting on the past few hours and the events that led up to this moment.

_Watching his mother and Tess laugh over tea and low-carb sweets as he walked into the kitchen. _

_Listening to his mother wish that she had had a daughter that she could relate to instead of him. _

_Meeting Tess's sympathetic gaze as he numbly walked out of the room. _

_Noticing the keys to her brand new, white Porsche Cayman S bought by Vikram for her on their anniversary last week on the coffee table in the living room and thinking 'She even loves her car more than me. Well, let's see how she'll feel when she notices it's gone."_

_Tiptoeing out of the house and onto the driveway, manually unlocking and entering the sleek car._

_Clenching his jaw at Karen's picture on the dash before slipping the key into the ignition and starting it up._

_Hearing the engine purr as he placed his hand on the headrest of the passenger seat and turned his body to look back, just the way his father taught him to, before backing out of the driveway and into the street._

_Cruising along the street, steadily gaining speed with every second, reveling in the immense power he felt driving all alone with no one to tell him a single thing._

_Remembering that this was his mother's car and slipping into anger once more, before unintentionally accelerating while making a right turn._

_Grasping at the handbrake in an attempt to control the car but to no avail._

_Feeling that sickening lurch in his stomach as the car swerved and struck a brick wall._

_Blanking out and hyperventilating as he barely registered rough hands pulling him out of the vehicle and placing him upright._

_People quickly surrounding the scene and whispering among themselves. "Is that Danny Desai!?" "Isn't that Karen's brand new car?" "Who would've thought the Vikrams had such a rebellious child!"_

_Chief Masterson shouting in his face, "What the hell is wrong with you, Danny!? You could've gotten yourself killed! Not to mention endangering the lives of others!" before whirling him around, joining his wrists together behind his back, and snapping the cold metal handcuffs in place._

_Feet dragging as he was pulled towards the police station across the street. Feeling his hands loosen as the handcuffs were unlocked as he was pushed into a waiting cell._

_Hearing the metal bars clink shut as he sank onto one of the wood benches, unmoving._

_Waiting for what felt like eons until he heard another police officer fumble with the cell key before prying the door open and telling him "Get up. Your parents are here."_

_Looking at the disappointed face of his father and the face of his mother, cheeks flushed bright pink with acute rage._

_Drowning in the deafening silence inside the car as they all drove home. _

_Realizing that he had not meant to total his mother's car in the slightest but the mere fact that she was without something that she so callously placed as more important than her own flesh and blood gave him an odd sense of comfort._

_Living the following two weeks in a strange haze of boredom, anger, guilt, and sadness while the consequences of his behavior came to light. Expulsion. Being charged with reckless driving and destruction of property. Not being able to see Jo or Lacey._

That pain suddenly came back at full force as Danny realized the sheer weight of his error. The thought of not being able to see his two best friends—the ones he cherished so greatly—for five years threatened to crush him. Danny pulled his knees towards his chest and buried his face in his arms, struggling to stifle his cries.

He didn't hear the soft crunching of leaves, alerting that someone was approaching the fort. The tentative hand that lightly brushed his shoulder had Danny jolting from his position, shuffling backwards in shock until his back hit one of the rusty stools.

He stared at the girl before him, mouth slightly ajar, taking in her appearance before whispering, "Lacey."

Lacey, donned in a purple hoodie, her hair placed in a large cloud of tight curls at the top of her head, stared back at him, the verbal barrage that she had rehearsed in her mind dying in her throat as she noticed his tear-streaked face and his puffy, bloodshot eyes.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, he cleared his throat several times as he quickly ran his palms across his cheeks. The smile he attempted to give her was more a grimace if anything. "Hey Lace, what's up?" he tried, only to have his voice crack halfway through.

Lacey sighed, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes before sitting cross-legged in front him. "So…you _really_ screwed up this time, didn't you, numbnuts? Messing with the she-beast is one thing but crashing her car is an entirely different story."

Danny didn't know whether to laugh at the old insult that she occasionally used in place of his name and the secret nickname the trio used to refer to his cold mother, or cry at the thought that this would be the last time he'd see her in a long time. Not wanting to risk the latter, he remained silent.

Lacey opened her mouth to say something but, thinking the better of it, she snapped it shut. She suddenly stood up, walking towards the back of the fort to rummage through some bags before pulling out a small pack of matches. She walked over to the fire pit, struck a match and threw it in, watching the flames dance along the shredded newspapers and tiny woodchips.

Lacey took her position next to Danny, and they both sat in relative silence as the sun went down. He honestly wasn't expecting her to show up at the fort anytime soon, but he wasn't all that surprised. He was willing to bet that Judy was on another one of her business trips and that Samuel was attending one of Clara's many late gymnastic meets, as was usually the case. Jo, on the other hand, had her police chief of a father to worry about so there was no way that she'd be able to sneak out of the house.

"If you're wondering why I'm here, I'm supposed to be sick in bed with the flu," Lacey muttered, making air quotes with one hand as she prodded the fire with a wooden stick in the other.

Danny betrayed a small smile as he glanced at Lacey wondrously. How she _always_ knew what was on his mind was beyond him, frankly. His smile faded as he began to contemplate how she'd take the news that he'll be off to Arizona tomorrow morning. He cleared his throat and turned to face Lacey fully.

Lacey, aware of the sudden shift in the atmosphere, turned to face him as well, hands subconsciously clutching the wooden stick harder than necessary.

"What is it, Danny?" she asked, thankful that her voice didn't betray the anxiety that was bubbling in her stomach. The sadness in his eyes was beginning to scare her. She'd never seen him this way, even when his mother had her days when she was particularly nasty towards him.

Danny exhaled slowly and looked down at his clasped hands. "Lacey…I…they're sending me to Arizona to live with my grandma for five years," he breathed out. He didn't want to see the look on her face. Was she angry? Sad? Shocked? None of those feelings sat well with Danny, further compounded by the fact that _he_ was responsible for them.

His mind went blank as he felt her arms wrap tightly around his neck as she buried her face in his hair. She was so, _so_ close and she felt impossibly warm and she smelled like vanilla and cinnamon and he wished he could freeze this moment and lock in a safe to preserve it for all of eternity.

Hesitantly, he lifted his arms to wrap them around her back. He reveled in their close proximity, feeling his heart swell his happiness.

That is, until he felt her shudder just a little. Then the moisture that fell onto his skin.

And his heart shattered into tiny pieces as her quivering voice reached his ear.

"Promise me you'll write to me every chance you get, okay?"

He could only nod as he shut his eyes tightly, allowing a single tear to escape his eye.

* * *

A/N: Wow~ so this fic is turning out to be a lot heavier on the emotional scale than I initially envisioned it to be, but that's okay! And did you notice that I borrowed Kylie's painting talents to give to Lacey here? I felt it'd be really sweet to add that. As for the rest of the characters, Lacey and Jo and just about everyone else will appear in the next chapter. Thank you so much for reading!


	2. Returning Home

A/N: This chapter is about half as long as the prologue, and I'm not sure if future chapters will be more like this chapter or the prologue, regarding length. There may be some grammatical errors here and there (because I rushed in the proofreading stage!) and I apologize for that in advance.

Thanks for reading and as always, reviews are always welcome!

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**Chapter 1: Returning Home**

Danny awkwardly shuffled his feet, shouldering the navy blue duffel bag as his grandmother mussed his shoulder-length hair.

"I really wish you would've cut it some so that it'd look more presentable," Lucy grumbled as she strained to run a wrinkled hand through his dark brown locks.

Danny shrugged and offered her a small smile, "It's not too bad. At least I shaved, right Nana?" he asked as he gave her a thoughtful look.

Lucy returned the smile, trying to keep the tears at bay as she gave her only grandson one last once over. She'd witness him grow from the small, quiet boy with sagging shoulders to a handsome, confident young man with charm that rivaled that of his late father. The fact that she would no longer hear his footsteps around her tiny home or hear him slam the screen door whenever he came home from school, no matter how many times she scolded him for it, was enough to cause the tears to push out of her eyes and run down her ruddy cheeks.

Danny felt his heart weigh at the sight of his grandmother and he stepped forward to wrap his arms around her hunched frame. "Thank you for everything, Nana," he whispered in her ear. He felt her arms encircle his middle and he tightened the embrace in response.

The moment came to an end when Lucy let go, playfully swatting his hand like she normally would when she caught him trying to sneak any extra serving of her peach and berries cobbler as she struggled to compose herself. "Call me as soon as you reach home," she softly reminded him.

Danny nodded as he readjusted the duffel bag and turned towards the entrance of the terminal just as a cheery voice filtered through the intercom, "Now boarding Flight 227 to Albany, NY."

Danny approached the stewardess at the front of the hallway and handed her his boarding ticket. He glanced back at his grandmother, who offered a shaky wave. He returned the gesture before finally disappearing through the terminal gate.

Once he found his seat on the plane and placed the duffel bag in the storage compartment above, Danny pulled out his phone and slipped in a pair of earbuds. Soon the stewardesses were shuffling through the aisles, reminding everyone to turn off their mobile devices before the plane took off. Glancing out of the window, Danny took one last look at place he pretended to called home for the past five years before pulling down the shades and shutting his eyes.

He was finally going home. To the place _he_ had always felt was home.

Danny slowly made his way down the stairs through the Victorian house, careful not to make a sound even though he knew his mother would not wake up after her fourth glass of wine for the night. He entered the living room, gazing at the spotless furniture that had been kept nearly exactly the same since he was eleven. His eyes landed on the tattered, brown recliner off to the side. Danny approached the chair and softly ran his hand across the fuzzy material. Taking a deep breath, he lowered himself onto the seat as he allowed the memories to resurface.

_Danny's head shot up at the sound of sudden, frantic knocks on the metal screen door. He started to rise from where he was seated at the dining table, papers with Geometry exercises scrawled all over them splayed out on the surface._

_Lucy beat him to it though, wrenching the wooden door open before noticing the wretched features of her daughter through the screen door, once perfectly curled locks now frizzy and tangled, and mascara running down her normally immaculate face._

_"Karen?! What's the matter, hon?" Lucy asked as she quickly pried the screen door open and pulled her grown daughter inside by the arms. To say that she was surprised to see Karen at her door was an understatement, given the fact that Karen had not mentioned that she was hopping on the first plane she could find to brave the six-hour flight to Phoenix, especially without her husband in tow._

_Karen gulped and she opened her mouth to speak before she noticed Danny standing no more than ten feet away, gazing at her in a mix of curiosity and concern. The sight of her son—so much like his father—was too much for her to bear and she collapsed onto the floor, burying her face into her hands as sobs wracked her small frame._

_Danny felt his stomach bottom out at the words that she wailed._

_"Vikram's dead!"_

Danny absentmindedly stroked the yellowish gold finger on his index finger as he remembered the fogginess that overcame him in the weeks following his mother's impromptu visit. The sudden death of his father, the one who often sat in the very chair that he was currently sitting him, threw him in a spiral of grief and depression.

To grind salt into the proverbial wound, the manner of Vikram's death was so suspicious, one could only rationalize that it was a homicide. The bruises that peppered Vikram's body were inconsistent with the crash of the bright red Dodge Viper he was found in.

Karen had arranged for a private funeral; just her, Danny, and her mother. The closed casket service lasted all but ten minutes before his body was lowered into the dug up grave. The following day, Danny was off to Arizona with his grandmother per the judge's condition after allowing him the chance to come back to Green Grove to attend his father's funeral. He was never able to see Lacey or Jo.

Karen pressured Kyle and the police department to look into the case but to no avail. The death was officially ruled as being caused by an accidental crash spurred by Vikram driving under the influence of alcohol, but the Desais knew better.

Overwhelmed with the massive debts that Vikram left behind, Karen had no choice but to sell all of the luxury and vintage cars that Vikram had amassed over the years, from the 1972 Ferrari 246 GT LeMans Evoluzione to the especially rare 1930 Model A Ford V8. When Danny realized what she had done, he refused to speak to Karen for three months. He and Vikram had spent countless hours bonding over those cars.

Back in Arizona, Danny struggled to come to term with the fact that he'd never see his father again. He became a recluse, holing himself up in his room the minute he arrived home from school, burying himself underneath the covers, and sleeping through the late afternoon and into the night. Soon, his grades slipped and Lucy began to receive calls from the school board, warning her that if he did not start to improve in his classes, he would be thrown in juvenile detention for the remainder of his time in Arizona.

After two months and seeing no change in Danny's habits, Lucy decided that it was time for her to intervene.

_Lucy exhaled and knocked softly on Danny's door before pushing it open. Momentarily startled by the darkness of the room despite it still being bright outside, she slowly made her way over to the windows and pulled the curtains aside, allowing the setting sun's orange rays to shine through the room._

_Danny stirred, noticing the sudden brightness of the room and barely opened one rheumy eye to glare at his grandmother. "Shut the curtains," he grumbled as he closed his eye and attempted to bury himself even deeper into the curtains, willing the old woman to leave him to his deep slumber._

_Lucy sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "Now I know you weren't raised to speak to me li—," she was cut off by Danny's arm violently swiping at the clock that laid on the dresser next to bed, causing it to shatter against the adjacent wall._

_"LEAVE MY ROOM NOW!" he screamed, chest heaving, sitting upright and staring at his grandmother with wide, menacing eyes._

_The pair stared at each other for a tense moment before Lucy gingerly made her way over to his bed._

_"Don't come any clo-," Danny tried to warn her before he was enveloped in her arms. His breath hitched in his throat as Lucy comfortingly rubbed her hands along his back._

_"It's okay, Danny…just let it all out," she whispered. She felt him shudder in her arms before a slight whimper gave way to shuddering cries as he clung to her._

The day after that, Danny received two letters in the mail, one marked from Jo and the other marked from Lacey. Jo had written a two page letter expressing her condolences and how much she missed him and his father.

On the other hand, Lacey had not written a single word. He pulled the cold-pressed paper from the large envelope and felt his heart come to a stop when he realized what it was.

A vivid watercolor painting of him and his father, facing the setting sun as they both sat on the hood of the bright red Dodge Viper perched on the cliff overlooking Green Grove.

He spent the rest of that afternoon alternating between crying and laughing.

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A/N: Wow~ so this fic is turning out to be a lot heavier on the emotional scale than I initially envisioned it to be, but that's okay! And did you notice that I borrowed Kylie's painting talents to give to Lacey here? I felt it'd be really sweet to add that. As for the rest of the characters, Lacey and Jo and just about everyone else will appear in the next chapter. Thank you so much for reading!


	3. The Reunions

A/N: Welp, I did say that all the rest of the characters would be introduced here but that was a lie. You'll definitely be introduced to Lacey, the Porters, Jo, the Mastersons, and Rico, but everyone else will appear in the next chapter, if not the one after that. This chapter was a beast to tackle with the dialogue so I apologize if certain parts sound unintentionally awkward. I'll try to tighten that up next time.

Thank you for reading, as always!

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**Chapter 2: The Reunions**

Jo hurriedly shoved the last piece of toast in her mouth before downing her entire glass of orange juice in one gulp, as her parents observed her with slightly different reactions.

"Easy there, honey," Tess Masterson advised as she hid her smile behind her mug of tea. She knew exactly why her daughter was in such a rush this morning and it had everything to do with a certain teenage boy who flew in from Arizona yesterday.

Kyle gazed at his daughter, his features pinched in a mixture of amusement and worry. "Now, Jo. I know you're excited to see Danny and all, but remember that you also haven't seen him in five years. A lot can change in that span of time, especially considering the events that led him to Arizona in the first place," he warned before taking a cautious sip of his steaming coffee.

Jo shook her head, nearly dislodging the beanie she placed on her head full of frizzy curls as she suddenly stood up, reaching down to grab the backpack she'd thrown onto the floor next to the table earlier.

"In case you've forgotten, Dad," Jo began as she shoved on the straps of the bag on her shoulders, "Danny and I still kept in touch, and you had no qualms about that whatsoever." She playfully narrowed her eyes and added with a thoughtful expression, "Besides, weren't you the one who filtered all of those letters that he sent me before I could read them? And all of the letters _I_ wrote before _you_ sent them?"

"Yes, but you never know once you're—," Kyle started before Tess placed a gentle hand on his, wordlessly telling him to quit while he was ahead.

"Have a good day at school, honey. Tell Danny we hope to see him soon," Tess said, eyes locking with Kyle who remained begrudgingly silent.

Jo smiled at the two adults and waved as she made her way to the door.

Reaching the sidewalk, Jo made a right as she tried to contain her excitement. Before she knew it, she was sprinting, a wide grin stretching her features.

She was finally going to see her best friend.

* * *

Lacey absentmindedly swirled her spoon in her now cold oatmeal, the meal long forgotten.

"Hon, you're going to be late for school and you haven't even finished your oatmeal," Judy stated over her shoulder as she slid two frozen waffles into the toaster for Clara, who was lethargically shoveling Fruit Loops in her mouth while struggling to keep her eyes open. The thirteen-year-old aspiring gymnast apparently made the mistake of staying up way past her bedtime watching footage on the current national champion in women's gymnastics, Simone Biles.

Lacey bit her tongue to refrain herself from making a comment that would undoubtedly make this morning much worse. She instead rose out of the tall chair she was perched on and took the bowl off of the kitchen island. She then proceeded to dump the grey mush in the trash bin before placing the bowl in the dishwasher.

Judy sighed and turned to face Lacey, concern etched on her face. "Lacey, honey…just…try to have a good day at school, alright? I know it'll be difficult to seeing D—_him_ after all these years but…who knows? Maybe you both will grow to be very good friends again," she said as she placed a warm hand on her daughter's arm.

Lacey offered her mother a tight smile that did not reach her eyes in return. "I'll be fine, mom," she said instead as she shouldered her purse and turned to leave the house.

Before she could slip out of the door, she heard her sister mumbled, "Tell Danny I said 'Hi'"

Lacey clenched her jaw and swiftly shut the door without another word.

Seated in the parked silver Volkswagen, she leaned her head back onto the headrest, closed her eyes, and counted to ten.

When she felt the trembling in her hands subside, she slid her key into the ignition, started the car and pulled out of the driveway. As she brushed away the side-swept bang that had fallen in her eyes, she tried not to dwell on the fact that she was going to see _him_ again. A reunion she simply wasn't prepared for, no matter how many times she rehearsed her reactions to seeing him for the first time in five years in her vanity mirror.

She was finally going to see her former best friend.

* * *

Jo eventually eased her pace into a brisk walk when she spotted the lavish Tudor home up the block. Reaching the cobble stones that formed a curved path, Jo slowly began to make her way to the door as nervousness bubbled and frothed in her stomach.

'What if Dad's right?'

'What if he really has changed?'

'Calm down, Jo. This is _Danny_ we're talking about here.'

Climbing the three steps and taking a few deep but measured breaths, Jo raised her arm to ring the doorbell when the door suddenly swung open.

"I'm off to school, mother!" Danny called over his shoulder, before turning his head and coming to an abrupt stop.

Jo froze in her place, arm still poised to ring the doorbell as she look a good look at Danny. He towered over her, just like he always had when they were children, but she also noticed that his once cropped hair was pulled into a small bun, revealing his small cartilage piercing on his right ear, and there was a faint shadow of hair along his jaw and upper lip.

"Are you just gonna stand there and gawk at me or am I going to have to wrestle a hug out of my own best friend here?" Danny chortled, a broad smile gracing his face as he opened his arms in invitation.

Jo gave him a watery smile and stepped into his arms, accepting his warm embrace while blinking back the tears that had unexpectedly gathered in her eyes.

"I see you haven't grown much—if at all—Jo," Danny laughed as he pulled away and held her at arm's length to take in her features. "Didn't I tell you to drink a glass of milk every day?"

Jo slipped out of his light grasp and gave him a weak punch in the arm, her tears all but forgotten. "Same old, snarky Danny," she mumbled, trying but ultimately failing to frown at him. "Only you seem to have aged a few _decades_. Should I start calling you _Grandpa_, Desai?" she asked as they both began to make their way to the sidewalk and towards the

Danny chuckled as he ran a hand through his hair, causing a few locks to slip out of the hair tie. "Hey, I don't look a day over fourty at the _most,_" he joked as they rounded the corner.

"Keep telling yourself that, Danny. At this rate, you'll be balding by the end of the year," Jo snickered. Danny simply laughed and shook his head in reply. It amazed him how easily they were both able to fall into their comfortable routine of ribbing, as if they had not spent the last five years separated by a few thousand miles, relying only on letters to keep in touch with one another.

After a brief moment, Jo looked up at him, a genuine smile across her face. "It's good to have you back, Danny," she said softly.

Danny's heart warmed at her words and he returned the smile as he murmured, "It's good to be back."

The pair fell into a comfortable silence as they neared the school, before Danny asked, "So…have you talked to Lacey at all lately?"

He didn't miss the slight falter in her step and the forced smile that she gave him as she merely shook her head. Danny nodded, his eyes downcast as he shoved his hands into his pockets. The both of them remained silent, each lost in their own thoughts, until they reached the front of the school.

"Hey, Jo!" a male voice pulled the two teenagers out of their reverie. Jo smiled broadly before turning around to see Rico running towards them, his large bag bouncing audibly against his back.

"Hey Rico," Jo giggled as Rico finally caught up with them. Rico returned her smile, before turning his gaze towards Danny, whose eyes flickered between Jo and the somewhat lanky boy.

"H-hey man, I'm Federico Moretti but everyone just calls me Rico…you know because of R-I-C-O at the end of my first name and whatnot…and it's not really everyone but just Jo and the other kids that I hang out with in Math Club—though not to say that you can't call me Rico, because, you know, t-that'd be totally cool," Rico stammered. He stared at Danny for about two seconds before quickly jutting his right arm out towards him.

The corner of Danny's mouth rose in a half smile before taking Rico's hand and giving it a few shakes. "Nice to meet you, Rico," Danny said in response. "Jo's mentioned you a few times in the letters she sent me."

Danny glanced at Jo, whose cheeks swiftly turned a bright red hue before she gave him two subtle shakes of her head. He pursed his lips in an attempt to mask his smile.

"R-really? I mean, wow, I hope she didn't say anything too bad—not to say that I've done anything bad, because I totally didn't do anything bad…right Jo?" Rico glanced nervously at the girl who was patting her reddened cheeks with both hands. "Hey, um, you look a little flushed, Jo. Are you okay?" he said as he raised a shaky hand to try to brush against her forehead.

Jo violently shook her head, nearly shouting, "No, I'm fine!"

Rico's eyes widened and his quickly dropped his hand before nodding furiously, "O-oh, okay! That's good!" he stuttered before letting out a large sigh of relief.

Danny silently observed the two, one eyebrow raised in amusement. "Shall we get going, guys? After all, I do have a new locker to get settled into."

"Yeah, let's get you settled in," Jo quickly said before whirling around and taking the lead, brisk walking towards the concrete steps that led into the main entrance, Danny and Rico not too far behind her.

After Danny retrieved his lock and combination as well as his class schedule from the office, the trio made their way into main hallway, navigating through the bustling crowd of students.

"What were the chances that they'd assign your locker only two doors down from mine, Danny?" Jo wondered aloud as she approached her locker, quickly whirling in the combination before prying the door open and grabbing her chemistry book.

Danny shrugged as he placed all but one of the books he'd just received into the empty locker before. "I dunno but it certainly beats racing from the other side of school to meet you here," he said with a smile as he flipped through the pages of his trigonometry book.

"I gotta go to Calculus so I'll catch you guys later," Rico said, raising his hand to the side of his head in a two finger salute before sprinting away.

Danny and Jo both offered a brief wave before they turned to each other. "So…he's an interesting one, that Rico," Danny grinned as he leaned against his locker.

Jo flushed slightly, mumbling a simple "Yeah" before finding a particularly interesting page on Avogadro's Law in her book. Danny suppressed a snicker, making a mental note to pester her on the recent observations he's made later.

As they lingered in the hallway with time left to spare before the first bell rang, Danny felt a sudden shift in the atmosphere and he looked up just in time to see a tall, slender figure push open the double doors leading into the hallway.

Her hair, tumbling down her back in soft waves, shone in the sunrays that pierced through large window above as she gracefully made her way through the crowd of students who took note of her presence and parted for her. Her rosy, full lips formed a soft smile as she lifted a hand to wave at a fortunate student in greeting while her other hand daintily held on to the purse strap placed on her shoulder. She continued to make her way through the crowd before reaching her locker, her slender fingers dancing over the lock as she entered the combination.

As if she, too, felt a sudden change in the air, she slowly lifted her head and turned to her right, her dark brown eyes meeting with those of a certain long-haired, tanned young man standing no more than twenty feet away before she felt her body grew absolutely rigid.

Danny felt time slow to a grinding a halt as the girl stared back at him, her eyes widening in recognition.

He parted his lips and mouthed the only name that registered in his mind.

_Lacey Porter_

* * *

A/N: Eep! So Danny and Lacey have finally seen each other and obviously there's some tension there that they need to work out first but we know Lacey won't cave easily and she has a lot of things to work out with herself first! So be prepared for some minor angst. Thanks again for reading!


	4. Hallway Conversations

A/N: Finally some Dacey angst! I hope it's to everyone's liking! I felt it lacked a little "oomph" though. I'll do better next time, I promise!

* * *

**Chapter 3: Hallway Conversations**

The concept of time was completely irrelevant to Lacey as she stood next to her locker, her eyes fixed on one and only one person among the large mass of students.

Her eyes slowly drank in his appearance. The slender physique that was easily a few inches taller than her, clothed in combat boots, fitted jeans, a faded green winter coat overlaying a blue plaid shirt and a white Henley. Pieces of his hair that framed his face while the rest was smoothed back into a low bun. The color of his eyes—chestnut brown with tiny speckles of gold in refracted sunlight. His parted lips that looked to be whispering someone's name.

_Oh._

It was _her_ name, she belatedly realized_._

Her eyelids fluttered and her own lips parted slightly on their own accord. She watched as his eyes drag their gaze from her own to her mouth before she felt a hand on her arm shaking her out of her reverie.

"_HELLO_! Earth to Lacey!" Phoebe shouted, her perpetually wide eyes growing impossibly wider as she waved a hand in Lacey's face. Lacey blinked as she quickly schooled her face into an easy smile, purposely angling her body away from Danny's view.

"Hey, girls. What's going on?" she questioned, thankful that her voice did not betray the fluttering that she felt in her chest.

"Well," Regina began, as she flipped her hair over one shoulder, "you all remember that frat boy with the huge tattoo on his left bicep from the party three nights ago, right?"

Sarita groaned loudly before crossing her arms and glaring pointedly at the redhead. "Isn't it a bit too early for you to be divulging the details of your sexual trysts, especially those that involve greasy, disgusting frat boys?"

Regina rolled her eyes at the petite Filipina. "Don't be jealous just because you scare off all of the college boys whenever we go out!"

Sarita scoffed, clearly offended by the remark. "Did you just so happen to forget that I'm in a relationship with Scott?" she shot back.

As Regina and Sarita went through their usual morning routine of squabbling over just about every subject under the sun, Phoebe curiously eyed Lacey, who was taking the time to rummage through her locker for her history book.

"So who were you staring at not too long ago? You looked like you saw a ghost," she whispered, a hint of concern in her voice.

Lacey exhaled slowly and muttered, "A ghost from the past, actually," but Phoebe didn't catch it before Lacey shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing, really. I was just lost in thought. You know we have a history exam in two minutes, right?" Lacey asked, hoping the brunette would take the bait and ultimately drop the subject.

To no one's surprise, Phoebe's eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth, barely stifling a high-pitched squeak. "We do!?" she asked frantically as she scrambled to open her locker to pull out her binder full of notes.

Lacey observed the helpless girl with a touch of pity, shaking her head and suppressing a laugh before felt a hand snake around her waist. She recognized the heady scent of his cologne, and turned around to face him.

Archie bent down to brush his lips against her, wrapping both arms around her waist as he deepened the kiss. Lacey briefly returned the act of affection before pulling away and giving him a soft smile. "Hey Arch," she murmured.

"Hey, babe. Looking fine, as usual," he complimented, kissing her once again but on her dimple. Archie straightened and turned towards the rest of the clique, soon joined by Scott, whose arms engulfed Sarita in a bear hug. Lacey couldn't help but glance over her shoulder to see how much PDA a certain someone had witnessed.

Her eyes zeroed in on Danny and Jo just a few yards away, the two of them apparently engrossed in an animated conversation.

She would've breathed a sigh of a relief, had it not been for the telltale muscle at the corner his jaw that twitched every now and then. She could _never_ forget what that meant, even if she tried. She recognized it every time he came to the fort after dealing with his mother on her worst days. She also recognized it when that boy named Bobby pushed her into the sandbox during recess in the 2nd grade.

Meaning, he'd seen everything.

* * *

Danny slipped out of the psychology classroom and made his way towards the restroom, wiping a tired hand across his face. As he rounded the corner, he nearly toppled over the _last_ person he expected to me.

Hands gripping her shoulders, Danny peered into Lacey's eyes as she quickly tried to retain her balance. When he was sure she wasn't going to fall, he glance down at the tile floor, noticing the wooden restroom pass that had skitted away when he bumped into her.

Danny chuckled as he bent down to pick up the pass and handed it to her, his fingers lightly grazing her own as she took it from him. "What's the deal with this? What are we, in the third grade or something?" he joked, eyes twinkling as he gazed at her.

Lacey felt a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth before she realized what was happening and quickly turned her head, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear before facing him once again. "Thank you," she said with a nod, sidestepping him in an attempt to leave.

Danny shot his arm out, preventing her from making another step as his face took on a solemn expression. "We haven't spoken to each other in a while, Lace," he whispered, not missing the slight shudder that ran through her body at the mention of her nickname. "At least give me the chance to ask how you're doing."

Lacey gave a one-armed shrug, a slightly bemused expression on her face. "I'm fine, Danny," she simply stated, also not missing the way his breath hitched in his chest when she said his.

Danny half smiled, the gesture not quite reaching his eyes, and took a step forward, causing Lacey to immediately take a wandering step back.

"Yeah, I can tell. You seem…well adjusted," he murmured, unable to stop the hint of bitterness creeping in his tone as he shoved his hands in his pockets and he looked off to the side.

Lacey's eyebrows furrowed in irritation, the meaning of his words not lost on her. "I told you we could no longer be friends so it's not like you could say you were blindsided by any of this," she said, making a swiping motion with her free hand. "Plus, you always had Jo," she whispered, her eyes shifting downwards to stare at her boots.

Danny stared at her in surprise before taking another step towards her, this time their chests nearly touching. Her eyes shot up to meet his own, and they both almost feel each other's heartbeats as their breaths mingled in the tiny space between.

"Maybe if you'd given me an explanation as to why, I'd be able to understand, Lacey," Danny pressed. "You tell me we can't be friends and to stop writing you, and then you refused to reply to any of the _twelve_ letters I sent back _begging_ you to tell me why or if I had done something—_anything_—to upset you. On top of that, you stopped talking to Jo. What _happened_, Lacey?" he asked, unable to hide the pleading anguish in his voice this time.

Pain flashed through Lacey's face for an instant before she trained it into a stoic mask. The conversation was heading in a direction she didn't have the means to deal with. That she was nowhere ready to make. His close proximity restricted her own breathing and she felt lightheaded. If she stayed any longer, she felt like she was going to _really_ panic.

"Nothing. I was just tired of it all and I needed a change of pace," she said flatly as she began to turn away, only for Danny to grasp her wrist to stop her from leaving again.

He breathed slowly, silently willing her to meet his eyes again. When she finally did, he whispered, "Does this have anything to do with what happened with your parents?"

It was the last question she was hoping he would ask and it took her a second to gather her frazzled thoughts before she wrenched her wrist out of his hold and all but ran away from him before she did something stupid like cry.

Danny watched her retreating back as she quickly walked away, leaving him to bear the silence of the empty hallway on his own as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair and leaned an arm against one of the lockers.

It upset him that she was so resistant, but it upset him even more that she was hiding something painful and that he was unable to do anything about it. The glimpses of her face when he questioned her told him that much, no matter how determined she was to hide it.

Sighing, his trip to the restroom long forgotten, Danny made his way back to his classroom.

Unbeknownst to either him or Lacey, a figure stood in the adjacent hallway, back against the wall as he digested all of this newfound information.

* * *

Danny slid a few books into his bag before shutting the locker door, turning to Jo who stood by waiting for him.

"Where's Rico?" he questioned, angling his neck to see if he'd find the boy approaching them at a distance.

Jo shook her head. "He has to stay after school for the Brain Bowl competition. I—well _we_—can meet him at Johnny Cakes later. He won't be long," she said.

Danny smiled and nodded in understanding. "He seems really intelligent," he noted, observing her as a soft smile slowly spread her face before quickly wiping it away with a nonchalant expression.

"He's not too bad," she said with a shrug. Danny stifled a smile as he swung his bag onto his back before they began making their way to the school entrance.

As they neared the doors, Danny overheard a few students whispering excitedly to each other about a "major throwdown" and that "the base price" was raised to "5K."

Danny's eyebrows pinched in confusion as he looked at Jo, jutting a thumb in the direction of the group of kids, asking once they were out of earshot, "What were they talking about back there? Does Green Grove have some kind of street fighting tournament or something?"

Jo's eyes widened and she searched for any lingering teachers or adults in their general vicinity, before she pulled his arm for him to lower his head and whispered in his ear, "No, they're talking about street racing."

Danny's eyes grew large as well, whispering back in disbelief, "Street racing? Here? In Green Grove?"

Jo tilted her head before saying, "More like the downtown area. My dad says it's turning a real big problem for the department."

"Huh. Well, that's a surprise," Danny said, promptly dropping the subject.

As the pair made their way into the old diner, Danny found himself immersed in an old memory.

_"You see this beauty right here, Danny?" Vikram asked as he ran his hand over the hood of a black 1957 Ford Mustang with broad white pinstripes. "She has all the potential to easily become a 10-second car. All she needs are a few parts."_

_Nine-year-old Danny craned his head to look up at his father in curiosity. "What do you mean, '10-second' car, Dad?" he questioned._

_Vikram smiled and patted his shoulder. "I'll tell you when you're older," he said before moving on to the next car in the large space._

Vikram never got the chance to tell Danny what he meant, but Danny finally understood the phrase a few years later in Arizona when he stumbled upon a road blocked by several, souped-up car late at night.

He was on his way home from purchasing a bag of sugar for Grandma Lucy at the market about a mile away and he had taken a shortcut through an alleyway, only to find himself blocked by a massive crowd of people cheering.

Intrigued by what was going on, Danny stepped back into the alley and found a dumpster that he could stand on. Gingerly climbing up the dumpster after assuring that the top wouldn't cave underneath his weight, he peered out into the street just in time to see a flash of lime green, followed by a flash of other bright colors just a few seconds afterwards, the sounds of the modified engines actually causing the windows above his head to vibrate.

The crowd went insane as they stepped off the sidewalk and into the street. Noticing that the entrance to the alley was now open, Danny climbed off of the dumpster and walked out of the alley, slowly creeping behind the crowd. He spotted the lime green 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse as the driver stepped out and raised his arms in victory, prompting the crowd to cheer even louder as they surrounded the car.

As Danny began to back away from the scene, the bag of sugar still clutched tightly in his hand, he heard someone shout, "Now _that's_ a 10-second car!"

After that night, Danny would spend hours on one of the library's computers, looking up the names of some of the cars he remembered his father having and committing them to memory. To his surprise, nearly all of the cars Vikram owned were cars that could be specifically customized to race with. He wondered if his father ever had a secret passion for racing that he kept only to himself, but he knew he would never know the answer now.

The idea of racing intrigued Danny, but he knew that toying with the idea of it all was like playing with fire. With the mess that he made out of his mother's Porsche five years ago permanently staining his record, he knew he had to stay _far_ away from cars.

"Here's your basket of fries and two strawberry milkshakes," the waiter said as he placed the items in front of the teenagers, interrupting Danny from his musings.

"Thanks, man," Danny said with a nod as he took a sip of the thick liquid before looking up at Jo, who gazed back at him with a curious expression on her face.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked before he could ask her what was on her mind.

Danny smiled and started to open his mouth in reply, before he saw Rico making his way over to the table.

"Hey, Rico. We saved a spot for you," Danny said with a wave as Jo scooted further into the booth to make room for Rico. "Unfortunately, you'll just have to watch us indulge in delicious our shakes and fries until the waiter comes back around," he added with a smile.

Rico dumped his heavy backpack on the ground before, laughing as he took his seat next to Jo. "I don't mind, really. Well, at least not until I'm halfway done this problem set in Calculus because it's kind of hard and I really want to get started on it," he rambled as he dug through his backpack and placed his binder and calculator on the table.

"But, Rico, you _just_ got back from Brain Bowl," Jo whined before grabbing a few fries from the basket.

"Well, actually I had to run home really fast and fix something on Alonzo's soundboard for the throwdown tonight and—."

"Wait, you know about the throwdown too, Rico?" Danny asked, an eyebrow raised in mild surprised.

Rico nodded, eyes wide as he lowered his voice and replied, "Yeah, my older brother likes to DJ from time to time and it's a good place to make a few bucks, according to him. I went one time—more out of curiosity than anything—and it was c-cool and everything but it was really loud and people like Archie and Scott are supposedly _always_ there and—."

"Archie?" Danny questioned. _Why did the name sound so familiar?_

"Y-yeah, Lacey's boyfriend. She and her friends are usually there too," Rico said before Jo could stop him.

Danny looked down at his milkshake, the once enticing treat no longer appealing to him. Jo gazed back at him forlornly. She knew how strongly Danny felt about the long-legged beauty with ebony skin, and she felt her own heart squeeze in pain at the mention of her former friend.

After about a minute, Danny tilted his head up, a smirk dancing on his lips. "So, any of you plan on going tonight?"

* * *

A/N: So many things revealed in this chapter! So Lacey's behavior definitely has something to do with her parents (this shouldn't be too difficult to speculate), there's a mysterious figure lurking the hallways of Green Grove HS, and Danny wants to go to the "throwdown" tonight (for obvious reasons). There will definitely be some action sequences in the next chapter since we're finally getting to the racing!

As always, thanks for reading!


	5. The Throwdown (Pt 1)

A/N: lol So I lied again when I said you'll be getting some action in this chapter. It'll actually be in the second part of this chapter that'll be uploaded tomorrow. Many thanks to the lovely Serene who beta'd this chapter for me and gave me a much-needed boost of self-esteem to continue writing! Thank you to all the lovely people who've left such awesome reviews as well! I really appreciate it!  
As always, thanks for reading!

**Chapter 4: The Throwdown (Pt. 1)**

"As I said before, you guys are not to make any eye contact or socialize with me while we're here, alright?" Alonzo grumbled, veering his Volkswagen Golf into an innocuous, six-story parking garage. He nodded in satisfaction when he heard the mix of "yeahs" and "mmhmms" filtering from the back seat.

Alonzo rolled down his window and made eye contact with a "security guard" standing next to the checkpoint. "J, what's up, bro?" Alonzo greeted. "J" lifted his chin in response and pressed a button to raise the arm of the parking barrier.

Alonzo drove up a couple of feet before craning his neck and looking at the trio. "Alright, get out," he ordered. Rico opened his side door and scuttled out of the vehicle, Jo and Danny not too far behind. Alonzo wasted no time driving out of their sight and further into the garage.

"Well, he's a ray of sunshine, isn't he?" Danny muttered with a smirk, glancing at Rico.

Rico scratched the back of his head as he pursed his lips. "Yeah, Alfonzo's not very polite but at least he gave us a ride," he sighed.

"It must've been Jo here. Who could say no to this face, huh?" Danny teased as he squeezed Jo's cheeks, earning a glare and a firm slap on his hand from her instead.

"Come on, let's just get this over with," Jo groaned, pouting as Rico led them into the brightly illuminated first floor of the garage. "I don't even know how you guys talked me into this. This is _illegal_, by the way."

"Didn't you say 'no', only to change your mind when Rico and I decided it would be best to go along without you anyways?" Danny snickered.

Jo rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Successful manipulation on your first day back. You should get a gold medal, Desai," she said, feigning irritation. The three of them rounded the corner and found themselves thrust headfirst into the world that was underground street racing.

Music blared from huge subwoofers located next to a makeshift DJ table, where Alonzo was speaking with a few other guys while he set up his equipment. Scantily clad women and sleazy looking men were in abundance; from the gyrating mass losing themselves to the sultry beats, to those who roamed the area, chatting among themselves, waiting for a driver to come along and show off his or her assets.

Rows upon rows of colorful cars of all sizes lined against the wall and in other sections of the garage, their hoods popped up to reveal aftermarket engines, cool air intakes, NOS* tanks, superchargers, high performance fuel injectors, shock absorbers, neon lights—the whole nine. Their drivers stood nearby, carefully shining the interior with microfiber cloths, making a few tweaks and adjustments, or simply bragging to one another about their latest additions.

Rico chose a relatively secluded spot far away from the blaring nose and plopped down on the concrete floor with his bag, with Jo and Danny following suit on each of his sides. He then pulled out his laptop, furiously typing in a few keys here and there as he occasionally looked up at the ceiling of the garage.

"Hey, what're you doing there, Rico?" Jo asked, watching the millions of lines of code run through the screen.

"Oh, just tapping into the surveillance system," he said with a shrug of his shoulders, as if someone had just asked for the time. Sure enough, there were cameras scattered throughout the ceiling, the tiny LED lights embedded in them occasionally blinking red. "There's one hacker already in the system so that any trace of tonight's events will be erased from the archives, and I figured they wouldn't mind sharing the bandwidth a little bit," he said with a small, awkward chuckle.

Jo's face scrunched up in a mixture of confusion and alarm. "So why are you hacking into a surveillance system, Rico?"

"It's just so I'll have multiple angles of footage whenever a race starts. Then, I'll be able to feed the data into a little program that I wrote that dissects the clips and adds them into a three-dimensional graph –you know, for vectors and stuff—so that I can analyze the speed and trajectory of the cars as they drift," he explained in one big breath.

"…since when were you so interested in street racing, Rico?" Jo asked in a hushed voice filled with awe and tinged with a bit of concern.

"Oh, um—not long. A few months, is all. It's just that I figured it'd be a great opportunity to turn this into a learning experience because, you know, cars are cool…and stuff," he quickly said, as he fidgeted with the laptop on his lap.

"So, when were you going to tell me that you were sneaking out late at night—most likely alone—to apply mathematical theorems to street racing?" Jo asked drily, as she crossed her arms over chest.

Rico's mouth opened and shut repeatedly and yet no words escaped. "I—well, um—you see—," he began, eyes frantically looking at anything but Jo. As if on cue, there was a loud cheer as a crowd began to form around a black 2006 Nissan 350Z with grey metallic detail along the body, and a blue and orange 2002 Nissan Silvia S1 with a sharp, protruding spoiler.

"Oh, great_, they're_ here," Rico moaned, his shoulders slumping significantly as he placed his chin in the palm of his hand and stared at the spectacle with waning enthusiasm.

"Who?" Danny and Jo asked simultaneously, their attention still directed at the excited mass of people.

"You'll see," Rico muttered, placing renewed focus on modifying the source code of his program.

Sure enough, the doors of each car opened butterfly-style and out stepped Archie and Scott. Archie grinned at the crowd and fist pumped several of the guys, with Scott not too far behind.

Danny observed Archie, the corners of his mouth turning into a deep frown as he watched him slip his arms around the shoulders of several, heavily made up women who seemed much older than your average high school student.

Jo placed a hand on Danny's shoulder, disturbing him from his thoughts. "Hey, Danny, can I talk to you for a second?" she whispered, tilting her head to the end of the garage.

"Sure," Danny nodded, beginning to stand.

"Rico, we'll just be over there for a moment, okay? Just…don't do anything extreme, like teleport yourself into the Grid*. I wouldn't know how to get you out," Jo laughed as she and Danny made their way to an empty area even further away from the scene.

Jo turned around, subconsciously pulling at the fringe of her sweater as she carefully thought about the words that she was going to say. "So, you saw Lacey this morning," she said, chewing her lower lip.

"Yeah, I did," Danny sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets as he remembered their intense conversation from earlier. "I spoke to her in the hallway during fifth period, too."

Jo whipped her head back to stare at Danny with worry. "Please don't tell me you asked her about her parents," she pleaded.

Danny swallowed and looked down at his boots, remaining silent.

"Oh, Danny…I told you not to ever bring it up," she whispered sadly. "Don't you remember the letter I sent you?" she asked.

"I didn't forget, Jo. It's just—I saw her and I couldn't keep my mouth shut. I think I blew my chances—she practically ran away when I brought it up," he muttered, running a dejected hand through his hair.

"She needs time, Danny. Whatever happened…she'll say it—if she ever decides to—on her own," Jo said, pursing her lips as unshed tears welled in her eyes.

Danny nodded, placing a comforting hand on Jo's shoulder. "I know how hard this has been on you, too, Jo…I wish I was here when everything went sour. Maybe things would've turned out differently," he said softly as he attempted to give her a smile, only for it to look like pained grimace.

"Yeah, maybe," Jo replied. They stood like this for a brief moment, before Jo sharply inhaled and then exhaled, reigning in her emotions.

"Okay, let's see what Rico's up to this time," she said, trying to inject as much enthusiasm as she could in her words. Danny genuinely smiled at her effort and they both began to walk back to where Rico remained hunched over his laptop when a white 2006 Mazda RX8 with purple streaks of soft tribal designs sped past them, coming to a quick stop at the end of a row of cars. The driver stepped out of the car, running a hand through her tousled curls and flipping it over her shoulder before walking to the front of the car to pull up the hood.

Both Jo and Danny's jaws went slack when they realized it was Lacey.

* * *

Danny weaved his way through the rows of cars, looking at the intricate designs and creative substitutions. He stopped momentarily to stare at a car whose trunk revealed nothing but four panels of subwoofers and two huge, neon green NOS tanks shaped like Hennessy bottles, their tubes intertwined and disappearing underneath the upholstery. He shook his head in a mixture of awe and disbelief.

He continued, occasionally looking up to see Lacey, donned in black leather boots that reached mid-leg with magenta-colored knee-high socks, a black mini-skirt and a simple, black blouse. This time, she appeared to be arguing with a statuesque, blue-eyed man with closely cropped blond hair as they stood in front her car with the hood open.

As he drew closer to them, he could hear the other man telling Lacey, "Look, if you ease up on the accelerator _just_ a little, you wouldn't have issues with your throttle performance."

Lacey adamantly shook her head. "I drive just fine, Tyler. You're just trying to get me to buy a V8 engine from you and you and I _both_ know that's not going to work," she retorted, a smirk playing on her lips as he raised both hands in defeat.

"Suit yourself, Porter. Just remember what I said when that toy of yours goes up in flames," he muttered as he turned and walked away, searching for another, hopefully naive girl with a hot ride he could weasel a purchase or two out of.

Lacey rolled her eyes and shook her head, turning around to close her hood when she came face to face with Danny.

"Well, you sure told him, Lacey. Can't say I'm surprised about that. It is _the_ Lacey Porter, after all," he complimented with a half smile.

Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second before a deep scowl graced her features. She ignored him as she placed her hands on the lifted hood, pretending to inspect the oil intake, hoping he would get the idea that he was the last person she wanted to speak to right now.

"I think you have to actually pull out the dipstick if you want to check the oil, Lace," Danny muttered quietly, not falling for her tactic in the slightest.

Lacey tilted her head in his direction, shooting him an icy glare. "What do you want, Danny?" she asked, one hand raised to rub her aching temple before crossing her arms.

"I just wanted to apologize for our little conversation earlier," he started, peering into her eyes. "I shouldn't have brought up what happened in the past," he said, swallowing audibly before he continued. "I don't know why you decided we would no longer be friends…but I respect your decision. I'm sorry for not being here when you were going through…whatever that happened. Just know that I'm always here if you ever need me for anything," he finished. His face grew heated and he self-consciously ran a hand through his hair.

Lacey stared back at him, momentarily stunned into silence, arms slowly dropping from their position to lie at her sides. To say that she blindsided by his apology was an understatement. She could probably count on one hand the number of times Danny verbally expressed regret, foregoing that in favor of being extra kind or giving her or Jo gifts to make up for his mistakes. Just like that, all of the anger and resentment that she felt towards him for not being there when she needed him the most in the past year dissipated. She forced the tears to remain at bay as she allowed a tiny smile to appear on her face.

Danny smiled back, feeling a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, he and Lacey still had a chance to be friends. And perhaps something more further down the line.

"And I really do mean anything," Danny said with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "Personal punching bag, doormat," he rattled off the list, feigning seriousness as his ticked off his fingers.

This time, Lacey couldn't help but giggle softly, placing a hand over her mouth to hide her grin. Danny's smile widened as the tinkle of her laughter reached his ears and soothed his soul like a sweet balm.

* * *

Archie stared at his girlfriend at a distance, talking to a guy he had never seen before. His eyes narrowed into mere slits, deaf to the small plea from the woman to his right that his grip on her shoulder was beginning to hurt.

The way that Lacey was eyeing this guy was made his blood boil and his skin break out into a cold sweat all at the same time.

"Yo, Scott. Do you see what I'm seeing here?" he demanded gruffly, jutting his chin out towards the direction of the pair standing several meters away.

Scott squinted, trying to decipher what Archie could've possibly meant until his eyes landed on Lacey and the long-haired young man standing next to her. He smirked, twirling the large, steel pipe wrench in his hand. "You want me to go handle it, Archie?" he questioned.

Archie took a deep breath to calm his nerves before raising his hand and shaking his head. "Seems like this punk here is a little new so I'll just have to go introduce myself," he stated with a malicious smirk. The girls around him tittered in laughter.

Archie pushed himself off of the 350Z and began to make his way to the pair, his long purposeful strides causing the boots on his feet to audibly strike against the pavement with every step.

Someone was going to learn who the Street King is tonight.

* * *

Notes:

*NOS: nitrous oxide, a chemical compound used to greatly boost speed in modified cars by allowing the engine to burn fuel at a much faster rate. It is highly flammable and an excessive amount of it can cause engine damage or failure

*Grid: reference to the virtual place that the protagonist in Tron finds himself trapped in


	6. The Throwdown (Pt 2)

A/N: So the action finally appears! I hope everyone enjoys it! Many thanks to Serene, who beta'd this chapter for me. As always, thank you for reading 3

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Throwdown (Pt. 2)**

Jo couldn't help but smile as she watched Lacey slowly warming up to Danny. She hadn't seen a genuine smile like that from the taller girl in such a long time. She could only hope that Danny's return would help her to overcome whatever trauma she experienced in the aftermath of what happened between her parents, and allow her to make her way back to the friends she had known for as long as they could all remember.

She turned to Rico, who was currently trying to debug his program after finding a minor glitch. "Aren't you getting a little tired of running tests on this program?" she asked, eyebrow raised in annoyance.

Rico stared at her with a dumbfounded expression. "Nope, not at all. Why?" he asked.

Jo resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She was going to suggest that they take a walk around and actually see some of the cars on display before finally heading home, but the words died in her throat when she spotted Archie making his way towards Danny and Lacey, a grin filled with malice stamped on his features while Scott was not that far behind, palming a long pipe wrench as if he was poised to swing it at someone when prompted.

"Rico," Jo frantically called his name as she tugged on the sleeve of his jacket.

Rico looked up to see what was wrong, immediately frowning when he registered the look of sheer panic on her face. He whirled his head in the direction of her frightened gaze, taking note of what was about to transpire. "Aw, crap," he whined pathetically.

Rico quickly shut his laptop, slid it into his bag and grabbed Jo's hand, oblivious to the slight flush of her cheeks at the initiated contact. He pulled her up, leading her to the impending confrontation and hoping that she didn't feel the sweat that was starting to collect on the palms of his hands.

He had only known Danny for a day and he was already getting into trouble. He could only hope that he could pull the guy away before things turned ugly.

* * *

"I can't say that I'm _not_ surprised that you race, Lacey," Danny said, eyebrows raised in a mix of mild surprise and awe as he gestured towards her car.

Lacey shrugged, self-consciously pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "I don't really race—at least not in places like these," she murmured.

Before Danny could ask her to elaborate, Archie suddenly appeared behind Lacey, curling a possessive arm around her waist as he innocently placed his chin on her shoulder.

Danny's eyes shifted from Archie's to Lacey's, taking note of the way she stiffened in Archie's arms yet her expression remained cool and her eyes were guarded. Out of the corner of his eyes could see Rico and Jo quickly approaching.

"H-he was just leaving, Archie," Rico sputtered as he grabbed Danny's arm, trying to turn him away.

"Why leave now? I was just about to introduce myself," Archie said in a mockingly plaintive tone before tilting his head to place a soft kiss on Lacey's jaw, both of his arms now having a firm grasp on her as they slid lower to land on her hips.

"Danny, Archie. Archie, Danny," Jo quickly stated, gesturing back and forth between the males. "Good? Now if you'll excuse us," Jo said with a slight bow of her head and she looked at Danny, who remained where he was, eyes still locked on Lacey.

Suddenly, it seemed like the garage was too silent, the music dying down to a mere whisper filtering through the speakers. Jo nervously glanced around, realizing that they were now the center of everyone's attention.

Realizing that Danny wasn't budging, Archie's smirk widened and pressed his chest further into Lacey's back. "On second thought, why don't we let Aladdin over here decide what he wants to do, huh? I mean, I certainly wouldn't mind if he stuck around to enjoy the show."

"Archie—," Lacey warned, turning her head slightly to give him a stern look.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Jo Masterson, the daughter of Green Grove's finest _police chief_," Tyler drawled, suddenly appearing at the fringe of the crowd, causing everyone to turn their heads to look at him. "What's a beautiful yet _innocent_ girl like you doing at a place like this?" he asked, his toothy, shark-like grin stretching his handsome features.

The crowd began to grow restless, pointing and murmuring at the sight of Jo, no doubt suspecting that she was there to blow the lid off of their illegal escapades. Jo gulped and looked down at the ground, wishing a hole would open up and swallow her whole. Three weeks ago, Tyler had tried to woo her into going on a date with him but she quickly declined the offer. Since then, he had been subtly harassing her whenever their paths would brush in hallways, but he had never been so brazen until tonight. Rico took a step closer to her in an attempt to shield her while he glared pointedly at Tyler.

The situation was quickly spinning out of control and with the crowd appearing to grow more and more hostile with every passing second, Danny knew he had to act fast. He looked into Lacey's eyes that were almost pleading for him to leave. He gave a slight nod and he watched relief wash over her features.

"Thanks for the invitation—and the cute nickname and all—but I think I've had enough excitement for one day," Danny said nonchalantly. "Have fun, you two," he added before beginning to turn away.

"Hold it right there, Aladdin," Archie suddenly said, lifting his chin from Lacey's shoulder, his playful, condescending gaze taking a more sinister look as he stared unblinkingly at Danny. "You two stooges, too," he said, nodding at Jo and Rico who froze in mid-step. Scott, still with the steel pipe in tow, moved to block their path as if to emphasize Archie's command.

Lacey nudged Archie in the ribs, though not hard enough to make him flinch. "Can you not?" she demanded, her face twisting in growing frustration at Archie's shameless antics.

"The fun is just about to start," Archie said with a grin, ignoring Lacey and releasing his hold on her. He spread his arms out, riling up the once tense crowd with excitement.

Danny's eyes flicked between Archie and Scott, before settling on Jo and Rico next to him. He passed them an apologetic look before turning his attention to Archie, who was watching his every move.

"Alright, since Aladdin over here obviously doesn't have a whip," Archie's voice echoed in the garage, causing the crowd to roar with laughter, "he'll just have to watch how we do things around here, right!?" The mass of people cheered with an increased intensity, feeding off of Archie's hype.

"Let's make things even more interesting tonight, shall we?" Archie inquired. Not bothering to wait for a response he knew he'd never receive anyways, he continued. "The base price was originally $5,000 but let's raise the bar and just go for pink slips!"

The crowd grew quiet in shock before exploding in boisterous applause. Archie grinned, staring pointedly at Danny before looking around for any challengers.

A young Japanese man by the name of Jin, equipped with a classic, white 1986 Toyoto Corolla with an aftermarket body kit for lightness and blue stripes stretching vertically along the hood and roof of the car, stepped forward in response.

"Let's race!"

* * *

"I knew we shouldn't have come here," Jo whimpered, eyes full of fear as she stood between Rico and Danny in the descending elevator. "What'll my dad say when he finds out _I_ was here?"

"I'm sorry you guys got dragged into this," Danny muttered, angrily staring at the closed elevator doors. He placed a comforting arm around Jo, hoping to calm her nerves. "Once the race is over, we'll leave right away and get you home," he assured her.

Rico nodded in agreement, though his shaking hands betrayed how he felt about everything. Of course, his older brother was nowhere to be found at this time.

The doors opened with a 'ding,' just in time to see two cars drifting at an arc, their tires screeching and scorching the concrete, smoke billowing behind them as they sped away.

Danny's eyes widened slightly, entranced by the fluid motions of the cars as they curved around a corner and disappeared out of sight.

Scott appeared in front of the trio to lead them to the front of the crowd lined up next to Archie's car. Lacey was not too far away, occasionally glancing at the trio in trepidation.

Archie approached his ride, stopping momentarily to size up Danny once more before continuing until he reached Lacey. He pulled her into kiss for good luck, seemingly unfazed that her lips were pressed into a rigid line as the crowd went wild once again at the gesture.

Danny clenched his jaw but reigned in his anger, masking his emotions behind a stoic expression as he looked on. Archie threw a final smirk in Danny's direction before entering the 350Z and sliding the butterfly door closed as Jin did the same with his own vehicle.

Scott stepped up, standing a few feet ahead of the start line as both drivers started their cars. Archie revved his engine, causing fire to blaze out of the exhaust pipe, further exciting the already hyped up crowd. Danny resisted the urge to shake his head in annoyance at the showy display.

Rico pulled out his tablet this time, remotely accessing his laptop for added ease. "Alright, they're going to start any minute now," he breathed out, suddenly feeling very fidgety.

"Ready?" Scott questions no one particular.

He points at one girl at the end, wearing a revealing cowgirl outfit. "On your mark," she said, her voice oozing with seduction.

He points at another other girl on the opposite end with similar clothes. "Get set!" she said cheerily.

Scott lifts both hands as he shouts, "GO!"

Both cars take off at an insanely high speed as the crowd rushed forward after them, hands raised and fists pumping in exhilaration.

Jin accelerated quickly, pulling ahead of Archie in an attempt to gain the lead, only to grip the handbrake too late as he spun around a pillar in a wide semicircle.

Archie smirked as he clutched his own handbrake, pulling into a smaller arc and swerving expertly around the same pillar.

Danny watched with rapt attention until the cars disappeared around the corner. He turned to Rico, whose tablet was streaming the footage from the surveillance cameras.

People began to scurry towards the elevators as they, too, watched the cars battling it out on their mobile devices. Danny looked back to see Lacey walking towards an elevator with Scott leading the way. He nudges Rico and Jo to follow as well.

Scott smirked cruelly at Danny as the trio entered the elevator. The ascension of the elevator was punctuated by tense silence with Danny occasionally glancing over to look at Lacey, yet she refused to meet his eyes, choosing instead to look forward with an expressionless face. The elevator led them to the rooftop of the garage and the chilly night air immediately flowed in when the doors slid open.

Lacey rubbed the goosebumps that were starting to rise on her arms once she stepped out of the elevator and marches ahead, feeling Danny's gaze bore into the back of her skull as she took her usual spot on the roof. The crowd begins to congregate behind them, eager to see who will cross the finish line, though they all knew that it was going to be Archie.

* * *

Archie grips the handbrake and jerks the steering wheel to the left, back tires squealing against the concrete as he makes yet another turn. He glances at his rearview mirror for an instant, noticing Jin trailing behind by several meters. He shakes his head in false sadness, muttering, "Yet another car to add to the collection."

He makes several quick turns, making sure their tight enough to nearly graze the concrete just for added fun as he moves up towards the top of the garage. He swerves to the left and right before rotating completely, placing the car in the opposite direction as he taps his fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for Jin to finally reach his level.

When the white Corolla drifts into the spot, accelerating once again in an attempt to overtake Archie, Archie cackles, backing up quickly and spinning the car back into the right direction once again before taking another corner perilously close to the concrete.

The crowd on the roof goes insane as they watch the events unfold on their screens, reveling in Archie's cocky display of talent.

"Wow…Archie's really at it tonight," Rico whispers as Danny and Jo observe the action going on on his tablet.

Archie looks up ahead, spotting the final ramp that leads to the roof in a sharp upward curve, the perfect structure for the ultimate display of drift handling. He clutches the handbrake, sliding the car into the ramp at just the precise angle as he grasps the steering wheel confidently in one hand.

The frenzied crowd roars as the 350Z leaps out of the ramp before spinning in a tight circle as a show of victory. Once the car comes to a stop, the crowd rushes the 350Z, some even leaping on to the car in celebration.

Danny, Jo and Rico stand back, watching the scene as the Corolla finally makes its way up the ramp and stops right at the entrance. Jin leaps from the car, clutching his hair with both hands as he falls to his knees in despair.

Scott snatches Jin's keys out of the Corolla and he chucks it at Archie, who stepped out of his car just in time to catch them. Scott grins as he approaches Archie, the two young men sharing an exaggerated fist pump.

Archie approaches Lacey, who merely stares at him in veiled anger, arms crossed tightly against her chest. He pulls her into a hug and leans his forehead against her own before pecking her cheek. She acquiesces, just for the crowd, when she places her hands on his shoulders, deliberately focusing on her boots all to avoid Danny's gaze.

Archie cranes his head to look back at Danny, who eyes the couple briefly before merely nodding at Jo and Rico, signaling for them to go.

"Hope you enjoyed the show, Aladdin!" Archie couldn't resist throwing one last jab, once again inciting the crowd into raucous laughter.

Danny didn't bother to turn around as he silently pressed the down button, eager to finally be done with this entire night. Though he didn't race, he felt as though _he_ was the one defeated by Archie and that Jin—whoever he was—was just a stand-in. He was more upset over the fact that Archie had no regard for Lacey's feelings, even when she openly displayed her displeasure in his actions. The dynamic of that relationship made his blood steam and he found himself tightly clenching a fist just at the thought.

The elevator doors opened and he wasted no time entering the space along with Jo and Rico. Once the doors closed, Jo slumped against the side of one wall as Rico exhaled a huge sigh of relief.

"This is the last time I'm ever going along with you guys to something like this. You can have all of this insanity," she said, eyes closed with her hands raised, as if to wash her hands of the entire experience.

Danny didn't say a word as the elevator descended to the ground level and the three of them headed home in relative silence.

* * *

Archie spun the keys to the Corolla around his index finger as he leaned back against the burgundy leather seat of his personal lounge, placing his legs on the mahogany desk as he watched Scott, splayed out on the coach across from him, tip his beer bottle back, emptying it of its remaining contents.

He glanced at the time on his Rolex, showing that it was past three in the morning, He had stayed behind, enjoying the festive atmosphere spurned by his victory on the garage's rooftop even after Lacey left not long after Danny and the other two stooges left. He was sure the kid was kicking himself for being so stupid to waltz into _his_ territory and make himself comfortable around _his_ main girl.

"That Danny kid had a lot of nerve," Archie scoffed as his gaze traveled to the moonlight illuminating the dimly lit room from the full glass wall.

Scott merely laughed as he dug through his pocket for his lighter and pack of cigarettes. He slipped a single into his mouth and lit it up before taking a long drag and blowing out the smoke in a ring.

After a moment, Scott offhandedly said, "He looks like that guy who died a few years back. You know, that Desai dude."

Archie's head snapped up to look in Scott's direction, his own eyes widening in recognition.

"Danny Desai, huh?" he muttered to no one in particular, after some time. He sat back and contemplatively crossed his arms behind his head.

This was going to be a _very_ interesting year.

* * *

Danny shoved his hands further into the pockets of his jacket as he walked on the sidewalk, nearing his house at the end of the block.

He and Rico made sure Jo was able to sneak into the window of her room without fuss, before going their separate ways. It was well past midnight and the cold was really starting to settle in his bones, encouraging him to pick up the pace and reach home.

His mind replayed the events that occurred in the past few hours. He thought of Lacey's smile, how she began to open up to him just a little before Archie ruined things, and it was enough to make a smile tug at the corner of his own lips before he stopped cold in his tracks at the sight of a 2002 golden orange Mazda RX-7 with a green LED underlight and heavily tinted windows parked across the street in front of his house.

As he contemplated stealthily sneaking into the back door of his home or feigning ignorance and deliberately passing his home to appear as just another pedestrian, the headlights suddenly turned on, flooding the sidewalk with its bright white light.

Danny shielded his gaze as the car approached him. He swallowed thickly, his body rigid with apprehension as the car slowed to a stop in front of him.

The window on the driver side lowered, revealing a young man with a strong jaw, dimpled chin, and sculpted, brown hair carefully swept to the side. He grinned, revealing a row of perfectly straightened, pearly white teeth as he leaned out of the vehicle.

"Danny Desai? My name is Cole Farrell and I'd like to make you an offer that you simply cannot refuse."

* * *

A/N: Are you surprised about Cole's appearance here? There's still more to come. You'll find out a little bit more on Danny's backstory and who Cole is in the next chapter :)


	7. Making a Deal

A/N: No direct Dacey interactions in this chapter but it'll serve as the bridge for Dacey in the future, so I hope you're not too upset! Also, I've been writing at the rate of nearly one chapter per day so far, but that will change after this chapter since I have to re-evaluate how I'm going to execute these ideas that I have for this fic in the most effective manner. I'm determined to finish this fic no matter what though!

Thanks for reading as always!

* * *

**Chapter 6: Making a Deal**

Danny remained silent, still debating on whether or not this random stranger was a threat and if he should make a run for it, leaning towards the latter option the longer he stood there in silence.

"Dude, calm down. I swear I'm not going to kidnap you or anything," he said, chuckling as he slowly stepped out of the vehicle. He lifted his hands and linked them behind his head as he did a slow 360˚ turn. "See? I'm unarmed and 'un-dangerous'," he said, stopping to face Danny again.

Danny remained unimpressed. "What do you want?" he demanded, crossing his arms as he felt his patience wearing painfully thin.

"You're not one for small talk. I like that," Cole complimented with a smile only to falter slightly when Danny's eyebrows furrowed in real anger.

"Alright," Cole sighed, his face taking on a more somber expression. "Let's cut to the chase. I want you to race for me. I provide the car, the necessary parts, and the events. All you have to do is say yes."

A long, awkward silence fell between the two as Danny blankly stared Cole for several seconds.

"You want _me_ to drift race for _you_?" Danny deadpanned when he recovered from his shock.

"Yep," Cole simply confirmed as he leaned back against his ride. Danny took the time to really get a good look at Cole, who patiently stared back at him as if he was certain that he'd be getting that 'yes' out of Danny before he left. His entire persona screamed 'spoiled, rich boy,' with his black leather jacket and navy blue Burberry cotton scarf loosely wrapped around his neck, a simple white T-shirt underneath, form-fitting black jeans and white, Prada high-tops. Though he was short in stature, his confident aura more than made up for the lack in height.

"I don't even know you," Danny said with a shake of his head, completely thrown off at Cole's self-assuredness.

"That is certainly true."

"And I don't have a license."

"Correct again."

"And I'm not legally allowed to drive until I'm 21." Why he felt the need to divulge this tidbit was beyond him.

"I'm well aware of that."

"I don't even know how to drive, let alone race!" he nearly yelled in frustration, Cole's calm and collected responses to his objections beginning to seriously grate on his nerves as he ran a hand through his already disheveled tresses.

"That never stopped you from taking your mother's car all those years ago though," Cole said quietly.

Danny's head snapped back, feeling the air leave his lungs as if he'd been punched in the gut. He wordlessly turned away, making it halfway up the driveway until Cole's next words stopped him cold.

"But you like her, right? Lacey Porter?" he shouted out to him.

Almost instantaneously, Danny was in front of Cole, gripping the front of his shirt as he glared menacingly at the shorter man. "If you're thinking about hurting her, I swear I'll—."

"I heard you two talking in the hallway this afternoon," Cole admitted with a humorless smile, remaining limp in Danny's firm hold.

Danny's eyes widened in sudden awareness as his grip on Cole loosened just slightly. Knowing Danny was caught off-guard by the statement, Cole pressed on. "If you accept my offer, you won't be restricted to just clandestine meetings in hallways and you'll be able to keep a closer eye on her. She may not race in public events such as the one you just came from but she is involved, especially considering who her boyfriend just so happens to be."

Danny released Cole's shirt and he ran a hand through his hair once again, trying to process this information. "So you've been spying on me…and Lacey," he said. It was not a question.

Cole merely shrugged, not exactly denying the allegation. "You're Danny Desai, son of the late Vikram and Karen Desai. You were sent to live with your grandmother five years ago when you trashed your mother's car and now you're back. How you've managed to return without much attention is beyond me, actually."

"How do you know all of these things?" Danny whispered, unable to think of anything else to say.

Cole hesitated for an instant before quietly replying, "Your father and my father went way back, though we were never able to meet for some reason." Cole's eyes pierced through Danny's own with an intensity that made him take a wandering step back.

"And you've come back to collect from my father's debts by forcing me to race for you," Danny snarled, pushing away the sudden unease and fear that formed in his stomach. The last thing he wanted to do was show that he was frightened at the idea of unknown men with cruel intentions, threatening his and his mother's lives, even when his mother wasn't his most favorite person in the world.

"No, that's not it at all," Cole replied with a sigh, the first indication that his resolve was beginning to slip. "Look, Danny. I'm actually trying to do _you_ a favor here. I know how much your dad liked cars and by the looks of things, you've certainly taken after him in that aspect. You also _really_ like Lacey, who happens to own a pretty nice ride herself. The underground is practically calling out for you, dude. You'll race to your heart's content, I'll charge you a little as commission, and you'll get undoubtedly get closer to Lacey. You'll get _way_ more out of this than _I_ will, to tell you the truth."

Danny chewed the inside of his cheek as he weighed Cole's last statement. The thought of racing was enticing. He would feel closer than ever to his father in continuing the love they both shared for cars. Also, after seeing Lacey tonight, he knew that Cole's claims were not groundless. If he raced, he'd be able to see her much more often, even if Archie was around. He could slowly work his way back into her life and they could become friends again. Then, they could work on developing those feelings into something more.

On the other hand, he didn't even know this guy. How was he to know that this wasn't some elaborate scheme to drag him into a seedy word of crime due to his father's past? Plus, he had a record now. If he remained out of trouble until he turned 18, his mistake would be expunged from his records. If he got caught, he'll get sent to juvenile detention for the remainder of his adolescence. Then there was the possibility of danger. Archie and Scott were just high school students but the way they reacted to him—particularly Scott with that metal pipe wrench—was anything but friendly. He wondered if there were much more threatening characters lurking in the shadows, surreptitiously pulling the strings while the visible players were just disposable pawns in a much larger game.

Danny looked at Cole, who stood a bit straighter when he realized that Danny had made a decision. "Thanks, but no thanks," he simply said as he turned and walked away.

Cole sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. He should've known Danny would unknowingly force him to play his last card.

"Danny," Cole abruptly called out. Danny turned around and barely had enough time to catch the object that Cole threw at him. Danny looked up at him in confusion, but before he could ask what it was, Cole had entered his car and drove away.

Danny opened his palm and nearly fell to his knees when he realized what it was.

* * *

"Danny's been awfully quiet today," Rico whispered to Jo before swirling a good amount of pasta around his fork before placing it in his mouth.

Jo simply nodded as she took a bite of her turkey sub, chewing thoughtfully. Across from them, Danny sat silently, his eyes trained on the entrance of cafeteria they were currently seated in. He scarcely said two words to either her or Rico since she met up with him on their way to school. When she asked what was wrong, he smiled (grimaced, really) briefly and shook his head, mentioning something about being tired from getting home so late last night. Jo had dropped the subject once she saw the dark circles under his eyes. She was pretty tired herself so she knew what he was feeling. However, she could tell something was eating away at him but she knew he'd remain stubbornly quiet about it until he was ready to tell her so she didn't push it.

As she nibbled on her sandwich, her gaze fell on Lacey sitting on the opposite side of the cafeteria. Regina seemed to be revealing the sordid details on some wild party she went to last night, with Phoebe cringing in disgust and Sarita paying not playing either girl any mind, all of her attention focused on a particularly affectionate Scott. Archie was horsing around with a group of guys at the end of the table, being as loud and rambunctious as he possibly could. Lacey was perched in the middle of it all. She still radiated the aura of a queen, one who could not be disturbed by the frivolous activity around her and yet Jo could still see the slight vulnerability peeking underneath.

Their eyes abruptly met and Jo fought the urge to immediately look away, something that she usually did whenever it came to Lacey as of late. Lacey's eyes grew sad for a moment before she quickly submerged it under a mask of coolness when Phoebe nudged her to get her attention.

Jo understood what she was trying to convey. After all, she still knew the girl very well. When Lacey glanced back at Jo for an instant, Jo took it as her cue to shake her head and offer a tight smile, as if to say, 'It's okay. _I'm_ okay. Last night was not your fault,' Lacey returned ghost of a smile as penance, before subtly shifting her attention towards Danny, whose entire concentration remained fixed on the double doors. She bit her lip, a wave of different emotions ranging from confusion to despair flittering across her face before she turned her attention back to the girls at her table, offering an easy smile.

Not a minute later, Jo observed as Danny's eyes suddenly lit up when he spotted someone pass the cafeteria entrance, pausing for just a fraction of a second before continuing along their path.

"Danny, you should at least finish your—," Jo began but was cut off when Danny swiped up his bag and quickly walked out of the room without another word.

"—lunch," she grumbled as she laid her chin in the palm of her hand.

She stared as Rico not so subtly slid his hand across the table and dragged Danny's half-eaten tray of pasta closer to him. Her gaze flicked between him and the plate, willing him to look up at her so he could see her reaction but he just continued eating without a care in the world. Jo rolled her eyes and shook her head as she tried to suppress her smile.

* * *

Danny rounded a corner, skidding to a stop when he met eyes with Cole standing at the end of the hallway, who simply jutted his finger towards the ceiling and turned to make his way up the stairs.

Danny counted to one hundred before breathing out slowly and following Cole's lead. He climbed up the stairs two at a time and pushed the door open. He spotted Cole leaning against a wall, hands casually placed in his pockets.

Danny wasted no time stepping forward. He wordlessly reached into his jacket and pulled out the item Cole had thrown at him last night. The gold chain hung from his hand, the gold pendant with intricate grooves and four red rubies surrounding a larger red ruby embedded in its center gleaming in the sunlight.

"Where'd you get this?" he grounded out between clenched teeth, teetering on the edge of rage.

Cole stared at Danny for a moment before slipping his hands out of his pockets and laying them at his side. "Your dad gave it to my dad the day he was killed," he said carefully.

"BULLSHIT!"

"Damn it, Danny, I'm telling you the truth!"

"How do I know _your_ dad didn't snatch this off his cold, dead body, Cole? Or _you_, for that matter?" Danny seethed, his free hand clenching and unclenching in a weak attempt to curb his anger.

"Because I would've never given it to you if that was the case," Cole said firmly. Danny glared at him, his chest heaving and Cole took it as a sign to continue. "Do you have any idea how much that necklace is worth, Danny?" he whispered.

Danny's glare faltered as he stared at the necklace in his hand. How could he even ask a question like that? Of course, he knew how much it was worth.

_"Danny, come here for a second," Vikram said as quietly as possible as he motioned his 11-year-old to come closer._

_"What's with the secrecy, Dad?" Danny questioned as he eyed his father carefully, noticing how fidgety his father was. For as long as he had known the older man, the word 'fidgety' never quite crossed his mind whenever he described his father._

_Vikram looked around the living room one last time before digging into his pocket and revealing a velvet box. He gingerly pried it open, revealing its contents to Danny. Laid in the cushion of the box was a gleaming gold pendant with five red rubies set at its core._

_"Nice, huh?" Vikram said with a wide smile._

_Danny nodded in awe before looking up at his in admiration. "Looks pretty expensive," he said._

_"You have no idea, Danny," Vikram replied with a laugh as he sat down on his favorite recliner. "Your mother is going to love it," he added._

_Danny suppressed the urge to stick his tongue out in disgust, knowing that he'd only get scolded for the immature gesture. He simply nodded in agreement._

_"Yeah, I think she will."_

"My mother said he'd taken it the day he was killed. Something about it needing to be repaired, even though she insisted that she couldn't find anything wrong with it. When they found him in the Viper," he said, swallowing thickly with emotion before continuing, "the authorities said that they never found it. We just assumed whoever killed him also took it," Danny whispered.

Cole shook his head. "That morning, he gave it to my dad and mentioned something about it being more than enough to cover a debt. He was killed just a few hours later."

Danny squeezed his eyes shut in pain before slowly opening them again and meeting Cole's eyes, who looked back at him in sympathy.

"I figured it'd give you and your mother just a little bit of closure, returning it to its rightful place and everything," Cole muttered, eyeing the ground for a moment before looking back at Danny. Danny remained where he was, a jumble of different emotions passing over his features as he visibly grappled with the memory of his father.

Cole nodded again and began walking towards the exit. His hand was gripping the door handle, when Danny whispered a feeble, "Wait."

Cole turned his head slightly to peer at Danny from over his shoulder in curiosity.

Danny slowly looked up at the shorter male before exhaling slowly.

"What's in it for you? What do you get out of having me race for you?" he asked.

Cole turned fully to face Danny, regarding him warily. "As I said before, you race and I'll get a portion of the money that you make when you win. That's about it, really."

"And what about that teeny-tiny issue of me—oh I don't know—not knowing how to race, much less knowing how to drive properly?

"I'll take care of all of that," Cole replied with a smile, feeling like they were close to an agreement. "So does this mean we have a deal?"

"I have to be able to tell Jo, at the very least," Danny bargained.

"And Lacey?"

"Well, she _is_ part of the reason why I am even considering this," Danny countered with a raise of an eyebrow.

"Of course. And sure, you can tell Jo. She can even bring her friend along too. Rico, right? I think he can be a lot of help to us."

"So you've seen what he can do with a laptop," Danny chortled.

"I've seen enough to know that he's practically a wizard," Cole said, biting back a smile. Silence fell between them as they regarded one another. Cole then stretched out his arm with his hand open before glancing up at Danny.

Danny stared at the appendage for a moment before raising his own hand and clasping Cole's in a firm handshake.

* * *

A/N: So Danny is officially in the game! But I want to hear from you guys re: Cole? Do you think he can be trusted? Do you buy his story, even if Danny did? In any case, he'll be playing a pretty big role in this story so you'll be seeing a lot more of him (and I personally enjoy it since Canny is my ultimate BroTP) in future chapters.


	8. Late Night Rendezvous

A/N: Hello! Sorry for the slight delay and thank you for all of the wonderful feedback and kudos that I've received thus far! I'm so happy that this fic has been well-received, even though the universe setting may not be everyone's cup of tea. Thank you to all of the reviewers that have been so wonderfully encouraging. You guys are the reason why I keep writing. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 7: Late Night Rendezvous**

"You're home early," Danny asserted, removing his jacket and placing it on the coat rack next to the door as his mother lounged on the couch, swirling the wine in her glass with a simple flick of the wrist. Karen looked up at him and offered him a tight smile before raising the glass to her lips once more.

"…and with a glass of wine at only five in the afternoon. Terrific," he muttered to himself as he made a beeline to the stairs.

"Danny, wait," Karen called out to him. Danny sighed, making his way over to where she lied and staring pointedly at her, silently asking her what she wanted so that he could leave.

"Yes, mother?"

It was Karen's turn to sigh as she placed her glass down on the coffee table. "You came in late last night," she noted, trying to gauge his reaction yet his face remained as impassive as ever.

"I assumed you wouldn't notice," Danny replied, glancing down at the wine glass before looking up at Karen. Karen felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment and anger at the silent implication.

"Well, I _did_ notice. I also noticed a suspicious looking car parked outside of the house around the time you arrived, too, Danny," she countered.

"Great. You're actually making an effort to be a mother now," Danny drily commended, clapping his hands together twice for good measure. "Are we finished here?"

Karen recoiled as if she had been slapped, raising up from her seated position on the couch to face Danny. She crossed her arms as she stared at him, tears welling in her eyes at the callous nature of her son towards her. "Danny, I am your mother and I want what's best for you. Why can't you see that?"

Danny resisted the overwhelming urge to roll his eyes at his mother's tears, imitating her in crossing his arms as well. "It's kind of hard to see that when your own mother can easily go three days without so much as a glance towards her only son, don't you agree?"

"Danny, that was in the past. I—I…look, I'm sorry for not being the best mother you deserved—and still deserve—and I wish I could go back in time so that I could undo so many of the mistakes that I made, but I can't. I really, really want to try this time around…but I can't do that if you refuse to let me in," she whispered as she wiped a stray tear that fell down her cheek.

Danny felt his throat constrict and the back of his eyes sting at the heartfelt words. There was a time where the one thing he wanted more than anything else in the world was his mother's love, but the bitterness stemming from the state of their current relationship stamped out that hope until it was nearly nonexistent. Perhaps, one day they'd be able to mend the bridge but today was not one of those days. The past twenty-four hours were emotionally exhausting and the last thing that he wanted to do was dredge up painful memories with his mother.

Danny schooled his features into an aloof facade before turning around and walking away. "Have a good evening, mother," he called over his shoulder as he ascended the stairs, leaving Karen to deal with the emotions and anxieties over what he could possibly be getting into all on her own.

* * *

Danny pushed the glass door to Johnny Cakes open, barely registering the 'ding' from the bell above the door. He immediately spotted Rico and Jo at a secluded table towards the back of the diner, open books and loose leaf paper scattered across the table as they discussed their assignments while enjoying a late evening snack consisting of milkshakes and what appeared to be the crumbs from a slice of blueberry pie.

Jo looked up in time to see Danny approaching them, and she smiled, scooting over the leather seat to make room for him to sit.

"You guys are drowning in homework, I see," Danny said with a laugh as he drummed his fingers on the surface.

"Well, those scholarships aren't just going to fall out of the sky and into our hands, Desai," Jo said as she poked him in the shoulder.

A comfortable silence fell among the three as Danny silently observed Jo and Rico tackling their problems one at a time. He took a deep breath before exhaling slowly, mentally preparing himself for the reactions he was about to receive to what he was going to say.

"Guys," Danny said softly, peering intently at Jo and then Rico. The other teens placed their placed pencils down and studied Danny in curiosity.

"What is it, Danny?" Jo asked, feeling the first tendrils of anxiety beginning to form in her abdomen.

"What…what if I told you that I wanted to race?" he asked carefully, his shoulders suddenly hunched up in tension.

Rico was the first to react, his snickers gradually turning into peals of laughter. Eventually, Jo joined him, bursting into a fit of giggles as she held her cramping stomach.

Danny glanced back at forth between the laughing pair, feeling particularly awkward. When their laughter finally subsided, ending with Jo wiping a nonexistent tear from her eye, they looked back at Danny, who patiently stared back at them.

Jo's broad grin slowly dissipated as she took in Danny's somber expression. Her mouth fell open as she stared at Danny incredulously. "W-Wait…you were _serious_?" she gaped.

Danny remained mum as he pursed his lips. Rico gawked at Danny, his protruding Adam's apple bobbing up down and yet no words escaped his lips.

"Danny, how could you _even_ consider it after what happened _less_ than twenty-four hours ago?" Jo demanded, her eyebrows knitted in confusion and frustration. "Did you happen to forget about the part where Archie practically stomped all over your pride? Or how Scott was always a millisecond away from bashing your head in with a lead pipe?!"

"He wasn't really going to do it anything, Jo. Anyone could see that he was just there to intimida—"

"'Just there to intimidate you', Danny? Really? You don't even know what he and Archie are capable._ I_ don't even know what they're capable! You _just_ got back and you're already trying to get yourself into trouble!" she nearly yelled before realizing that they were still at Johnny Cakes. She ducked her head as she glared at Danny with wide blue eyes.

Before Danny could open his mouth to continue, Jo pressed on. "And how are you going to go about racing, Danny? Let's see what you're up against," she whispered harshly, raising her hand to tick off her fingers. "You don't have a license and you won't get one until you're 21. You have a record and you could get sent off to juvie if you get caught. You don't even have a car!"

"Look, Jo. I know that what happened the other night was kind of…scary. But I'll be okay. I have a…sponsor, so to speak," he said with a tight smile.

Jo cocked her head to the side, continuing to stare at him as if he had grown two heads. "I can't believe I'm hearing this right now," she muttered before turning to Rico, who currently seemed to be in a pensive mood. "Aren't you going to back me up here?" she hissed.

Rico nervously glanced at Jo and then Danny. "W-well…I mean, if he has a sponsor now—which is awesome, considering aftermarket parts aren't cheap and regular maintenance can get pretty costly—that pretty much changes _everything_. I-I mean, just as long as he doesn't step on Archie's toes—and by that I mean staying away from Lacey…o-or at least not looking at her all intense like he usually does," he gulped before continuing, oblivious to the bright red flush that rose on both Danny and Jo's faces, "then he shouldn't have any problems, I think. Racing is a pretty fair sport, just as long as you don't cheat," he finished with a quick shrug of the shoulders.

Jo's mouth hung open as she openly gawked at Rico for several seconds before shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you guys," she grounded out as she collected her notes and shoved all of her material into her bag before forcibly pushing her way out of the booth. She whirled around to glaring pointedly at Danny. "If you want to get yourself in trouble, fine. But don't count on me to be there for you when it happens. And you," she said, turning to Rico, who seemed to wither under her harsh gaze, "I can't believe you, of all people, are even encouraging this." Before Rico could say a word, she stalked away and left the diner.

Danny ran a hand across his face and exhaled slowly. He peeked at Rico, who currently looked to be in a state of utter shock.

"Well, that's Jo for you. Channeling her father whenever she feels the need to," he said with an awkward chuckle.

"She's never been this mad at me," he whispered before suddenly getting up. "I should go after her," he said desperately as he started to make his way to the exit.

Danny quickly grasped his arm, gently guiding him back towards his seat with a shake of his head. "Trust me, that's the last thing that you want to do right now. If my memory serves me well, you'll only make it worse if you try to talk to her now. Just give her some time; she'll come around," he said reassuringly.

Rico returned to his seat, nodding as he tried to calm his nerves. After a moment, he glanced up at Danny who appeared to be lost in thought. "So…," he began, his voice barely above a whisper, "you're going to start racing."

Danny nodded.

After a pause, Rico leaned forward, his hands gripping the edge of the wooden table. "So, as you can probably tell, I kinda have this thing for cars and all of the kinetics involved so, I mean, if you ever need any help, you can just ask, you know?" he blabbered.

"I'm glad you offered, Rico, because I'll need some help and I think you just might be the guy I'm looking for," Danny said with a small smile.

Rico, who had been slurping the last bit of vanilla milkshake in his glass, nearly choked mid-gulp and coughed harshly to rid his throat of the liquid before staring at Danny, his eyes bulging. "A-a-are you serious? You'd really let me help you and give you advice and stuff?" he asked, nearly bouncing in his seat with enthusiasm.

"Well, I'd be kind of an idiot to decline," Danny said, a smirk gracing his lips.

"I can't wait to get started," Rico said, rubbing his palms in delight before suddenly remembering that he left out an important detail, his face falling as a result. "But what are we going to do about Jo?" he asked in concern.

"Don't worry about it. I have just the thing that'll get us back in her good graces, but let's just wait it out until tomorrow, okay? It's getting late so I should be heading home," Danny said nonchalantly as he scooted out of the booth and stood up. "See you tomorrow," he said with a wave as he exited the diner.

* * *

Lacey blew a lock of hair away from her face, only to have it fall back in its position as she stood in the empty kitchen, a red cup in hand. The music blared from the basement below and though it was muted by the closed door, it was still loud enough to make her head pound. She twisted her mouth in irritation as she glanced at her watch. Why she bothered showing up at Archie's place for a party that was hastily organized at the very last minute was beyond her. He was more than capable of enjoying himself without her by his side, as evidenced by her lack of presence in the party below. She took a tiny sip of her gin and tonic as she leaned against the island, deep in thought.

As if on cue, Archie climbed up the stairs that led into the kitchen, spotting his girlfriend nursing her drink. He approached her, leaning against the island next to her as he peered into her eyes.

"So, would you mind telling me why you've been freezing me out all night?" he demanded, a bit of irritation coloring his tone.

She took another sip of her drink before placing it down on the counter and squarely returning his gaze. "If you had any idea how ridiculous you were acting last night, I wouldn't have to explain anything," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Archie knitted his eyebrows in anger. "So I'm ridiculous for being a protective boyfriend."

"You don't have to go around scaring away every single guy that comes within a ten foot radius, Archie. I can handle myself," she muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"Fine," he conceded. "Who is Aladdin to you, then?"

An expression Archie couldn't quite read flitted across Lacey's face before she settled on a neutral expression. "His name is Danny and he's just a guy that I was friends with when were kids," she said smoothly.

Archie nodded. "Just make sure he knows where he stands, and we'll all get along _just_ fine," he said with a smidge of cynicism. He downed the rest of her drink in one go before placing the cup back on the counter, giving her a peck on the cheek, and left the kitchen and back down to the raucous partying.

Lacey sighed as she stared into her cup with the slice of lime lying pitifully at the bottom. She figured she had had enough of the festivities of the night and chucked the empty cup into the nearly full trash can as she headed towards the front door. She pulled out her phone from her bag and sent a text to Archie and her friends, saying she didn't feel well and was turning in early for the night.

The late winter chill did wonders to sober her up as she walked towards her Volkswagen, drawing up her black and gold winter coat closer to her svelte figure. Once she pulled out of the long, curving driveway and passed the automatic security gates, she drove around aimlessly as she recounted all of the events of the past two days.

Somehow, she found herself parked adjacent to the road across from the fort. She smiled wistfully as she remembered all of the crazy adventures she, Jo, and Danny used to have in the secluded place and she couldn't help but leave her car and brave the leafy path leading up to the fort, her heels occasionally sinking into the mushy earth.

She pulled back the blue tarp and slipped inside, admiring how well the place has been maintained, knowing that the only person who could be responsible for that was Jo. Her gaze shifted towards the back of the fort and she walked over to it, sifting through the area and finding a box of matches in the same place she'd always kept it.

She smiled to herself, silently thanking Jo for always being so intent on organization as she struck a match and threw it into the pit, watching as the embers lit and the flames licked at the woodchips.

Lacey lowered herself onto the stump and stared unfocused at the tiny fire, absentmindedly picking at it with a stick until the sudden crunching of leaves jarred her out of her reverie. She held her breath as she heard the footsteps approaching and she leaped from where she was perched, just as Danny pulled back the cover and halted in his tracks. His large brown eyes widened for a fraction of a second before adjusting to the scene before him.

Danny smiled warmly, his eyes lighting up in her presence as he said, "Hey, Lace."

* * *

A/N: As you can probably tell, I like incorporating certain details and scenes from the show, and the ending was definitely based on the fort scene in Episode 2. The next chapter will delve into Lacey's story and will explain why Lacey cut her ties to Danny (and Jo). That one will be the most difficult to write so unfortunately you won't get a new chapter tomorrow but I will do my best to upload it by the end of the week. Thanks again for reading!


	9. Memories of the Past

A/N: This chapter was especially taxing to write because, not only is it much longer than any of the chapters I've written thus far, but because there's a lot of pain stemming from Lacey's backstory. Many thanks to Abbey, who gave me wonderful advice on how to effectively approach Lacey and her feelings about everything here, as well as Serene, who beta'd this chapter and gave me a much-needed boost of confidence once again! Thank you **Fiction101** (who happens to be working on an amazing Dacey fic called "The Way We Met" and that I highly suggest that you read) and **play for keeps** for consistently giving me such insightful reviews. As always, thank you for reading!

**[ETA ON 10/2/2013]** So it seems that I published the draft version of the chapter instead of the final version, as it was so kindly pointed out to me. I've updated the contents so that it reflects the final changes that I made after it was beta'd. Sorry for the confusion!

* * *

**Chapter 8: Memories of the Past**

Lacey audibly swallowed as she stared at the young man still standing at the entrance. Before she could utter a word, something along the lines of "I'll be leaving now," Danny unceremoniously made his way to the tiny wooden stool not too far away from where she stood and lowered himself on it as he took in his surroundings, a tiny smile forming on his face.

"I missed this place," he said softly before glancing back at Lacey, who remained immobile as she continued to stare at him. He could see the internal debate she was having on whether to stay or leave in her subtle facial expressions, and suppressed a sigh. "You can stay if you want to, Lacey. I promise I won't bite," he said with a smirk, though she couldn't help but notice the smidge of hurt in his voice as he said it.

Against her better judgment, Lacey wordlessly settled down on the stump once again and continued her prodding of the fire as they both sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment.

Lacey bit her lower lip as she stared at the flickering flames in the pit. "Danny, about what happened the other night with Archie—"

"It's okay, Lacey. We don't have to talk about that. Actually, I think the whole Aladdin thing has a nice ring to it. He and I do share an awesome head of hair, after all," he joked as he made an exaggerated flip of his hair and mussed with the locks with his hands.

Lacey stifled a giggle, smiling lightly in his direction, feeling her shoulders, which were nearly hunched up to her ears with tension, lower a bit. If there was anything Danny excelled at when they were younger, it was making her feel at ease and apparently that little tidbit about him never changed.

Silence fell between them once again with Danny occasionally glancing at her elegant form and her beautiful side profile. He remembered the decision he had made earlier in the day and nervously clasped his hands together, gathering his scattered thoughts and hoping that she would react well to the news.

"So…Lacey," he began, peeking up at her through his long eyelashes.

Lacey turned to face him in curiosity before her eyebrows creased ever so slightly, taking his posture and joined hands, both of the tells that she recognized from him as anxiety. She felt a growing sense of apprehension as she suddenly remembered that they had gone through this before in the very same spot five years ago.

Danny focused his attention on the fire for a second before returning back to her face. "I'm going to get into this street racing thing," he said with a nod, as if to assure himself that he was really going through with it. "I know it sounds crazy, being that I've only been here a day and I barely know how to drive…," he trailed off.

Lacey's face went blank as she processed his words. Then, a mirthless smile slowly stretched her lips as she shook her head, beginning to rise from where she sat. "Why am I not surprised?" she muttered under her breath. However, Danny caught what she said and immediately sprung up from his position, quickly stepping in front of the entrance and effectively blocking her escape.

Lacey glared icily at him, growing more and more frustrated at his audacity by the second. "Move, Danny," she bristled, her arms laying stiffly at her sides as she balled her hands into tight fists.

"Lacey, what do you mean 'you're not surprised'? Why are you upset?" Danny asked, confusion etched on his features.

"It means that I should've known you'd still be so reckless as to gamble away your freedom not even two days after you got back, Danny," she said, noticing how he flinched slightly at her scathing tone, yet she was too wrapped up in her emotions to bring herself to care.

"Lacey, I—"

"You what, Danny?" Lacey spat, her eyes narrowing, cruising on her building anger. "What could _possibly_ compel you to get involved in a world you know _nothing_ about? What could possibly influence you to risk you ha—"

"Am I wrong for risking everything just to feel a little closer to my father?" he cut her off, leaning forward to invade her personal space as he looked directly into her eyes, the pain of his loss clearly etched onto his tan features.

Lacey froze, feeling her anger being snuffed out and quickly replaced with a near overwhelming amount of sadness. She suddenly remembered the painting she'd sent him three years ago. She'd worked on it for three weeks, tirelessly mixing red and orange hues to get just the right combination of a warm glow that would serve as the sunset in the backdrop of the picture. She remembered all of the times Danny would rush into the fort to meet up with her and Jo, a huge smile nearly splitting his face as he gushed about a new addition that Vikram had made to his collection of vehicles. She would always find herself smiling back, his contagious happiness making her heart flutter in ways she had not understood at the time.

She blinked several times and pursed her lips, unable to form words and articulate a decent response as she continued to stare at him. Yet, she was nowhere near ready for what he was about to say next.

"…or you?" he whispered, his eyes radiating with an intensity that made her mind suddenly go blank. Her eyes widened and she could feel her lungs constricting almost painfully, heart hammering in her chest, the blood rushing to her ears, deafening the sound of anything else. Once again, she found herself in a conversation that she was ill prepared for; one she had not rehearsed, but she should've known it would have been a fruitless endeavor because when did Danny Desai ever follow the script?

She side-stepped him, her left shoulder just barely brushing his own as she swiftly walked out of the fort without so much as a backwards glance. She heard him sigh heavily and prayed that he didn't run after her in an attempt to get her to stay as she quickened her stride. She nearly stumbled as she reached the end of the path leading to the road where her car remained parked, but she continued, her speed unwavering until she made it to her car, entered it, and all but sped straight home.

It wasn't until she reached her bedroom, door shut tight behind her as she sagged against the surface, that she realized she was breathing once again.

* * *

That night, she dreamt of that day; that day that she tried so valiantly to force out of her subconscious. Her efforts thus far were marginally successful because it was the furthest thing from her mind when she was awake. Yet, on some nights, it resurfaced like something so utterly toxic that had been thrown in a dark, murky river, only for it to bubble up to the surface with its putrid stench permeating the air and destroying all forms of life in its vicinity.

Sometimes, it was something seemingly insignificant. A color. A smell. A word.

Other days, it was a little bit more poignant.

_How's your mom holding up after the divorce?_

_It must be hard not having your father around all of the time._

This time, it was neither. It was a person. Danny Desai, to be exact. And the memories played behind her closed eyelids like frames flipping from one to the next at a speed that she could not measure.

_ Lacey slipped off her flats at the front of the door, having just returned from school. Her bag weighed heavily on her shoulders with the promise of a long night of reading and copious amounts of the Pythagorean Theorem._

_As she entered further into the foyer, she stilled, feeling a wrongness in her own home that she had never experienced before._

_She heard footsteps bounding down the stairs and she realized that it was her mother. It was to no one's surprise that Judy was home early but one look at the older woman was enough to make her take a fearful step back._

_The sight of her mother's disheveled hair, black mascara streaking down her cheeks, and trembling lips, was enough to make Lacey take a wandering step back. Her mother—so strong, so poised, always in control—seemed to falling apart right before her eyes._

_ When Judy's bleary, blotchy red eyes finally took in the appearance of her elder daughter, the strength had left her legs and she crumpled onto the last steps of the staircase, hands desperately clutching at the railing as if she were her only life line._

_Lacey, scared out of her mind, rushed forward, homework forgotten as she fell to her knees and grasped her mother by the shoulders._

_"Mom, what's going on? What happened?" Her voice, laced in panic and despair, sounded foreign even to her own ears._

_Judy shook her head, unable to form words, completely overcome with despair. It was only when Lacey took a closer look at her surroundings she realized the sheer emptiness of the house._

_The various family pictures, the ones including her father, had been removed from their places._

_Her father's slippers that usually lied by the door were gone as well._

_His wood knickknacks that lined the shelf were nowhere to be found, the dusty outlines the only indication that they were ever there in the first place._

_Lacey didn't know how long she remained in her position, attempting to make sense of how these missing items were somehow related to her mother's misery until a solitary thought filtered through, her body growing numb as it began to grow, take form, and entrench in her mind._

_"Lacey—," her mother began shakily but Lacey was already running up the stairs, hand gripping the railing almost painfully as she made her way up to the second level of their home. She burst through her parents' room and felt herself grow lightheaded at the sight._

_Drawers where she would place her father's clothes in after folding the laundry were open and empty. The walk-in closet suddenly seemed much too big for just her mother's clothes and a few empty hangers._

_A single note lying on the dresser, the unmistakable scribbles of her father, was the last thing she could take as she, too, felt her legs give out and she slumped against the door frame until her knees dropped to the floor._

Later that night, she tried to block out her sister's cries piercing through the walls as her mother tried to contain her own tears, revealing the devastating news while she laid in her bed, curled into a tiny ball. The sounds alone would've been enough to bring a fresh bout of tears to her eyes but her tear ducts felt utterly overused and spent, reflecting the state of her own being.

She slipped out from underneath the covers, feet padding towards her tiny desk in the corner of the dark room. She flicked on the desk lamp, the light from the fluorescent bulb illuminating its surrounding. She gazed at what laid on its surface through bleary, tired eyes.

Among the items was a 4x6 framed photo of her, Jo, and Danny staring up at her with bright smiles. She picked up the frame, running a gentle finger over Danny's face, reminiscing on the past year where her feelings for him seemed to gradually change into something she initially couldn't place.

It was the feeling of her heart leaping in her chest every time the mail came in every first and third Tuesday of the month.

It was the feeling of her jittery hands prying open the letters and running her hands along the paper, as if she could still feel his fingers imprinted on its surface.

It was the feeling of her re-reading every line at least three times, imagining what his voice—deep but not overly so, boyish but still somehow sexy, occasionally breaking with puberty in a cute way—would sound like, especially when she got to the end signed "Love, Danny."

Then it dawned on her.

She was in love with the boy she grew up with.

She was in love with a boy that used to put sand in her hair, only to bring her a flower as penance.

She was in love with the boy that she'd tell all her secrets because she knew he'd never laugh at her, no matter how silly they seemed.

She was in love with the boy that read her like an open book, even when she tried so hard to keep her feelings locked away.

She was in love with the boy who lived thousands of miles away, all because of a stupid decision that he had made without considering the repercussions.

She was in love with the boy who was unafraid of taking chances, even if it jeopardized everything he loved.

And all too easily, the dull ache in her heart morphed to a sharp pain as she realized that he, in his own way, had left her as well.

The confusing stirrings of love warred with that pain as her mind raced, repeating the words until they became a horrific mantra that would not cease.

_He left you._

_He made a reckless decision and now he's 2500 miles away and he can't come see you._

_Who's to say he won't do it all over again when he comes back?_

_He can't even look you in the eye and tell you that he wouldn't, either._

_If you're crazy enough, you'll give him your heart and then he'll leave,_

_He'll leave just like Dad._

_ Just you wait and see._

And as the words became ingrained in her psyche, she felt her stomach churn and it took all of her willpower not to upheave the dry crackers and orange juice that she had for dinner; the only thing she could force herself to eat that night.

Before her stomach could betray her, she turned the frame face down and stepped away from the desk, numbly moving towards her bed. She buried herself deep under the covers and forced herself to slip into a deep sleep, her only solace from the torture that was now her reality.

* * *

The next day, she wrote Danny a letter, only two sentences long.

**We can't be friends anymore. Don't write to me and don't ask me why.**

**- Lacey**

The day after that, she told Jo that they should probably start hanging out with other people. The look of pure hurt on the smaller girl's face was almost enough to make her take it all back, but then she remembered that they were both linked to the person she couldn't bear to think about unless she wanted to relinquish the last bit of sanity that she desperately held onto. As a farewell, she told the curly blonde that she should never mention anything about her in her letters to Danny.

Her attempt at being callous must not have been too convincing to Jo because she was texting her nonstop, asking her what had happened. She never responded to any of them.

For weeks, Lacey was just going through the motions in life, barely living outside of school and her home. It was quite simple, seeing as her mother had resorted to throwing herself into work whenever she wasn't involved with Clara's gymnastics, which continued without a hitch, figuring that it would best for eleven-year-old girl to distract herself with the grueling training. This left Lacey to her own devices, which included long hours of homework or long hours of sleep, whichever came first. Painting was out of the question. She had thrown all of her art supplies away after her father walked out because he was the one who bought her her very first set of paintbrushes and watercolors at the tender age of four. There was simply no way that she could so much as look at a paintbrush without slicing open the barely healing wound that was in her heart.

The mundane routine wasn't enough to keep the memories at bay so Lacey began to look for other forms of escape. Somehow, she ended up at a party, timidly standing in a corner as she watched the grinding and gyrating bodies moving to the rhythm of a raunchy hip hop track.

A guy with rich auburn hair and piercing blue eyes suddenly appeared next to her, complimenting her black dress that ended mid-thigh. She soon discovered that he was pretty easy to talk to, and he seemed determined to make her laugh at his corny jokes. When he finally succeeded in bringing a ghost of a smile on her features, he did a tiny fist pump and, this time, she couldn't stop the titter of laughter that escaped her lips.

When she found the courage to ask him what his name was, he smirked and simply said, "You can call me Archie."

Soon, Archie was inviting her to parties on a regular basis, where she would eventually come to meet Phoebe, Regina, and Sarita. They were nice, and they were almost good enough to replace the gaping void in her heart. She would take whatever she could get.

* * *

Then, Archie introduced her to drift racing.

It started with an innocuous invitation to a "throwdown," whatever that meant at the time. By then, they were quite comfortable with one another so Lacey accepted it without much thought, assuming that this was just another crazy rave in the one of many abandoned warehouses located at downtown Green Grove.

When she met up with Archie and got a good look at the car he came to pick her up in, the 350Z with the custom body with intricate metallic gray tribal streaks along the side, she felt the first stirrings of doubt and yet she squashed those feelings as she gingerly entered the car on the passenger side.

When the two of them pulled into a garage, her jaw dropped and she swiftly turned to him, demanding that she take him home before the police showed up. Archie merely laughed at her words and told her to just wait and see if she'll still want to leave after experiencing the exhilaration firsthand.

She remained seated in the car, silently fuming at the apathy that he displayed towards her feelings. She had heard about Green Grove's racing "problem" before but never did she imagine that Archie was neck-deep in the illegal sport, if his interactions with the other event-goers were any indication. He seemed to be right at home, actually. She, on the other hand, felt like a fish out of water, gasping for oxygen that would not reach its lungs. She wasn't interested in having a criminal record in her lifetime, especially not at the tender age of 15.

She was actually debating on sneaking out of the car when the driver's door was suddenly opened and Archie plopped into the seat, an excited grin stretching his face before faltering just a bit at her sour expression.

"Lace—"

"Take me home, Archie. I thought we were going to a party, not some illegal underground racing event," she snapped.

Archie simply smirked as he leaned towards her, their foreheads almost touching. Lacey felt her heartbeat quicken at their close proximity. He had never been this forward and nowhere near that close until then.

"Lacey, I know you're nervous but just trust me on this, okay? Once you've seen how it is, you'll want to come here every night," he said, raising a hand to push a lock of hair out of her face.

Lacey, feeling her cheeks heat up at the gesture, could only nod dumbly as she turned in her seat to face forward. She could feel her heart thumping wildly in her chest but she forced herself to breathe deeply as Archie maneuvered his car to the starting line. She didn't bother looking at the driver on the right of them, obnoxiously revving his engine every few seconds.

Lacey barely registered the wave of the starter, signaling the start of the race, as the force of the car's sudden momentum slammed her back into the seat's cushion. She gripped the door handle in desperation and raw fear as the acceleration seemed to pick up, right as a stone wall came into view.

Lacey's eyes grew impossibly wide but before a scream could be properly ripped from her throat, she felt a sudden jolt and then a sliding sensation as the car drifted smoothly around the corner. Time seemed to slow to infinitesimal units as her eyelids closed, allowing the unique mixture of weightlessness of the car swerving in a delicate arc and the exhilaration of the high speed to wash over her, momentarily stealing her breath away.

And for the first time in months, she felt free.

Unbelievably free.

Archie glanced at her expression and laughed, though not unkindly. "Enjoying yourself there, Lacey?" Her eyes snapped open to dazedly stare at him as he continued to maneuver through the garage until he drifted up to the roof.

The muted cheers of people surrounding the car was enough to pull Lacey out of reverie, just in time for Archie, who had stepped out of the car, to come around and open the passenger door. He stretched his arm out, his right hand open to receive hers. She tentatively slid her hand into his as he gently pulled her out of the car.

As Lacey's hand remained firmly gripped in Archie's own, Archie turned to Lacey, a shy smile gracing his features before leaning in to brush his lips against her.

Lacey's mind went blank as it dawned on her that he was kissing her. While his hands cradled her face, she awkwardly placed her hands on his chest as she willed the stray memory of _him_ into the recesses of her mind. Because she was absolutely sure that if it had been _him_, she'd feel an electric current shoot from the base of her spine, causing her knees to buckle and her toes to curl in bliss.

With Archie, she just felt…empty.

But she didn't want to feel empty and she certainly didn't want to keep thinking about _him_, so she forced her lips to move against his, even though she didn't have the slightest clue of what she was doing.

When he pulled away, his right hand still clutching her own as his hand cradled the side of her face, she peered into his eyes, shining with a certain unspoken question.

_Will you be my girl?_

She just wanted to _forget_ and leave _him_ and everything attached to _him_ behind for good.

She just wanted to be free.

So Lacey smiled softly at him and nodded her head ever so slightly. She suddenly found herself engulfed in his arms and raised high above the ground as he spun them around, surrounded by the raucous cheers of the crowd.

* * *

Little by little, Lacey began to sink into the depths of underground racing.

Before long, she'd dipped into her college savings and bought a 2006 Mazda RX-8, its front bumper smashed into, at an auction outside of Green Grove.

With a new engine, hood, front bumper, and a fresh coat of paint, it was looking as sleek as ever.

Archie had thrown in a cool air intake and a turbocharger for good measure, and soon she was fishtailing in one of the abandoned warehouses in downtown Green Grove.

As she allowed herself to be at the complete mercy of the motions of the vehicle, her mind was wiped clean of everything except for feeling in the moment.

Unbeknownst to her, however, Lacey was doing the very thing that she swore she would never allow.

She was intrinsically weaving her fate with Danny's.

* * *

Danny Desai's mere presence conjured up a slew of memories, good and bad. Sweet and bitter. Then, he ran into her in a secluded hallway, having the gall to ask her if their wrecked friendship had anything to do with what happened. The fact that he was able to infer such a thing was astonishing and more than a little frightening because it was _true_. There was no question about that when he registered the acute pain that marred her features, even when it was just for in an instant. She should have known.

He appeared at the throwdown later that night. He apologized for not being there when everything seemed to fall apart at the seams and suddenly she was happy again. Happy that he was there. Hopeful that maybe—just maybe—the conclusions that her heart and mind had drawn that day were wrong.

But, then he said he wanted to race and that tiny spark of hope was dashed, leaving her unbelievably hollow.

Because it seemed to mean that she was right all along. He was willing to risk everything for a temporary rush of excitement. While she did not fault him for chasing the addicting sensation, she couldn't help the sickening feeling that crept in her stomach at the thought of him putting so much on the line.

Because that feeling was much too similar to the one she felt when she first realized how much his absence affected her.

And yet, he said he was doing it for his father…and for her.

And suddenly she didn't know what to feel.

Or how to breathe, for the matter.

* * *

Lacey blinked and raised a tired fist to rub against her eyelid. She grimaced at the feeling of smeared, caked makeup that she hadn't washed from her face last night, and groaned at the thought of a blemish sprouting later in the day.

It was then that she registered the curled form of Clara, her face nuzzled into her back and her arms wrapped firmly around her midsection.

She lowered her hand to brush against Clara's own before gently detangling the smaller girl's limbs from her body in an effort to not wake her. Ever since their father left without a word and figuratively fell off the face of the earth, Clara would always find her into Lacey's room in the middle of night, clinging to her older sister in an almost frantic, silent plea for her not to leave as well.

Lacey sat up and turned towards Clara, and almost stumbled off of the bed when she realized Clara's bright, inquisitive eyes were staring right back at her.

"Clara, how long have you been awake?" she grumbled, narrowing her eyes in slight annoyance.

"Long enough," she replied as she sat up as well, stretching her agile limbs with an exaggerated yawn. "You came in late last night," she noted with a slight pout.

Lacey's eyes softened at the implication and ran an errant hand through the younger girl's mussed locks, earning a playful slap on the wrist. They shared a light giggle before falling into a short silence.

"So, guessing by the way you were stomping up the stairs and slammed your door last night, you ran into Danny Desai? You know, if Mom wasn't doing an overnighter at the office, you would've gotten caught in a heartbeat," Clara said with an innocent cock of her head.

Lacey cringed, silently cursing her sister's sharp, observant nature. Choosing to ignore Clara's statement altogether, she deftly slipped off of the bed, padding towards the door to head to the bathroom. Just when her hand was twisting the doorknob, Clara spoke up yet again

"I still don't understand why you stopped writing to him. You're practically in love with him," she said as she peered closely at her sister hovering by the bathroom door, seemingly frozen in place.

Lacey gripped the doorknob, willing herself to control her erratic breathing. It was much too early to play this game with Clara, but as always, Clara never knew when to stop.

"I'm sure he's worth the risk," she said with a shrug as she plopped down on the bed, staring dreamily up at the ceiling.

Clara flinched when the bathroom door slammed shut with a resounding thud.

* * *

A/N: So I hope this clears up any misconceptions some may have had on why Lacey resented Danny when he was gone. The pace will be picking up from this point forward since all of the pieces are starting to fall into place :)


	10. Pieces Falling Into Place

A/N: It's been a while, yes?! So sorry for the long wait. Life caught up with me and I had to get back on track, but now that things have gotten reasonably under control, I can write again. Perhaps a chapter or two a week is doable at this point. This chapter was interesting to write, and I think you'll really like the ending ;) Many thanks to Serene who beta'd this chapter for me. As always, thank you for reading!

* * *

**Chapter 9: Pieces Falling Into Place**

"How long is she going to stay mad at us?" Rico plaintively wailed as he shoved a rather large chunk of blueberry muffin in his mouth. The side of Danny's mouth quirked up in a tight smile, noticing the three other muffin liners scattered on the cafeteria table, before lowering himself on the seat opposite of Rico.

It had been three days since Jo stormed out of the diner over Danny's decision. She was still freezing the both of them out—she'd glared icily in their direction before stalking off towards the chemistry lab with her lunch in tow—and Rico appeared to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Until this afternoon," Danny vowed before taking a small sip of his smoothie. He watched in veiled interest and confusion as Rico's mouth seemed to twitch on its own accord.

"Uh…you okay there, Rico?" Danny asked, his forehead creased slightly in concern.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. It's just that…whenever I eat too much sugar, my mouth does th-this thing where it just twitches on its own and it's really annoying and I wish it would stop but I couldn't help myself with all of those muffins they had today plus Jo's always been there to stop me from giving into my cravings," he blabbered as he struggled to control the convulsing of his lips.

Danny nodded as he processed the implications behind Rico's words. "You really like Jo, don't you, Rico?" he asked softly, leaning forward on his arms just a bit to gauge the other boy's reaction.

Rico nodded quickly as he polished off the fourth muffin. "Yeah, she's pretty awesome. She's funny, she's smart, she's nice," he rattled away as a content expression graced his olive features. "She's just…perfect," he finished with a sigh.

"So why don't you ask her out?" Danny asked nonchalantly.

Rico nearly spewed out the water from the bottle he'd been drinking out of, coughing as he beat his fist repeatedly on his chest to find relief from the constricting sensations of his lungs. "W-w-w-what?!" he blubbered in deep shock after he'd recovered somewhat, his cheeks immediately taking a bright red hue. "I-I can't do that!"

"Why not?" Danny shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure I would die from the rejection!" Rico cried before burying his face in his hands. "Why would she go out with me anyways?" he asked dejectedly, his voice muffled behind his palms.

Danny absentmindedly drummed his fingers on the table's surface, observing Rico's despondent state with a perplexed look on his face. How Rico couldn't see the obvious fact that Jo was enamored with him was beyond his scope of understanding.

"You're a good guy, Rico. I'm sure she'll say yes," Danny said optimistically. "You'll never know until you try, right?" he asked with a bright smile, attempting to lift Rico's mood with encouraging advice but to no avail.

Seeking to change the subject before the atmosphere soured any further, Danny said, "Well, look forward to tomorrow, Rico. It's my first 'lesson' and if you tag along, you'll get to check out my new ride."

Danny looked on in amusement as Rico's sullen demeanor quickly changed into that of cheerful excitement as he began to chatter aimlessly about mathematical research and empirical data.

Eventually, Danny tuned out Rico's ramblings, allowing his eyes to roam around the cafeteria, before landing on Lacey who sat a mere fifty feet away. He drank in her stunning appearance as he watched her run a soft hand through her sleek hair.

As if sensing his gaze, Lacey glanced up at him. Instead of quickly averting her eyes, she held his stare as a wave of different emotions flitted across her face before she blinked twice, as if suddenly snapped out of a trance. She swallowed thickly, turning her focus to those around her and feigning rapt attention to their conversations.

They had not spoken since that night in the fort, but Danny could feel that something was slightly different about Lacey. More often than not, he found himself meeting her eyes, and instead of the guarded look that he received on his first day, he could see the myriad of unanswered questions reflected in her large brown eyes before she quickly turned her attention to something—anything but him. Yet, she kept her distance and he, for fear that he would push her further away, did the same.

He was sure that his last words to her before she fled were still ringing in her mind. He could only hope that she was slowly warming up to the idea of him racing. He'd give her as much time as she needed if it meant that she'd eventually come around. In the meantime, he had to get Jo back in his corner and he knew just the thing that would do it.

* * *

Jo pocketed her phone as she smoothly exited the library, under the pretense of going to the restroom, passing the librarian seated at the front desk with his beady eyes scanning the open area for any peculiar activity. She had been studying diligently during free period when she received a cryptic text from Danny, informing her that he needed to see her immediately and that he wanted her to meet in the rarely used stairway of the science wing.

Peeking through the hallways for any signs of administrators roaming the halls, Jo cautiously reached the science wing to find Danny perched on the top step. She purposefully cleared her throat, causing Danny to whirl around to face her, a surprised smile immediately blossoming on his face at her appearance.

"I almost thought you weren't going to show," Danny said smoothly, raising himself from the position as he approached her, hands placed casually in his jean pockets.

Jo rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "What do you want, Danny?" she asked sharply. "I have studying to do."

"I just wanted to give you this," he said, reaching into his bag to pull out a simple, unwrapped box. Jo stared at the box in obvious suspicion as she hesitantly took the box from his hands. She lifted her gaze to search his face, who looked back at hers in eager anticipation for her to open the box and reveal its contents.

She sighed and quickly removed the top before her eyes widened to an almost impossible size. Her mouth repeatedly opened and shut but no sound escaped as she held the box in shaking hands. Immediately, her eyes glistened with unshed tears as she stared at what laid in the box.

In plush, delicate wrapping laid a gorgeous Victorian porcelain doll with blonde ringlets and blue eyes, adorned in traditional Czech attire in homage to her maternal grandmother's background who had a collection of dolls of her own. She remembered mentioning the doll in a letter to him a few months ago, gushing over the possibility of having one of her own and describing all of its intricate features.

"What did—," she stammered, her voice trembling before she shook her head in near disbelief. "I mean, how did you even get this?"

Danny shrugged, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he smiled at her. "I told my grandmother about it after you wrote to me, and she and I managed to pull some strings. It wasn't too difficult, actually. I would've given it to you sooner but, you know…," he trailed off.

Jo gulped, blinking away her tears as she placed the lid back on the box and carefully slid it into her bag. Her glassy, blue eyes stared up at him in a mix of wonder. "B-but why?" was the only words she could muster.

"You're my best friend, Jo," he said simply. "This was the least that I could do."

Jo took a deep breath before exhaling slowly, her lips spreading into a grin. "Thank you, Danny," she said with genuine happiness.

"No need for thanks," Danny began cautiously, trailing off as he pieced together what he was going to say next. "You've always been there for me, Jo…and I hope that'll never change," he finished, peering carefully into her eyes as the connotations of his words dawned on her.

Jo pursed her lips, her gaze lowering to her feet as she thought about what he was trying to convey. The longer she froze him and Rico out, the more her conscience gnawed away at her happiness, telling her reaction that night at Johnny Cakes was overblown. On the other hand, her mind would still reason that her fears and concerns weren't misguided. Danny's sudden decision merely two days after his return raised many red flags in her mind, but she also thought about how much she'd drawn within herself during his absence, even more so after Lacey stopped talking to her. Rico's friendship was a nice reprieve, but it just wasn't the same. Despite the terror that she'd felt during the throwdown a few nights ago, a growing part of her also felt _alive_. That feeling coupled with the fact that she'd be with Danny, Rico, and maybe even Lacey filled her with new and different sense of purpose.

After several painstaking minutes, Jo raised her head to look at Danny. He remained silent yet the hope was clear on his face. She sighed and rolled her eyes playfully before offering a crooked smile. "Okay, Danny," she said, raising her arms in defeat.

Danny grinned widely, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, mussing the top of her head in a affectionate nuggie and laughing when she giggled out a surprised "Hey!" as she struggled to remove herself from his hold.

Once free, Jo tried to smooth the frizzy curls, attempting to throw him a withering glare but failing miserably as she betrayed a smile of her own, basking in the relief and happiness that washed over his features.

* * *

Danny whistled as he slowly walked along the sidewalk, occasionally kicking pebbles as he made his way home after meeting up with Jo and Rico. Rico had been so surprised when Jo finally showed up at the diner for the first time in a few days that he had rushed towards her, enveloping her in a tight embrace before he realized his actions and quickly scampered away towards his side of the both, both his and Jo's faces flushed a deep red as Danny tried to stifle his snickers over their antics.

They'd discussed their plans for tomorrow, with Danny informing them that Cole will pick them in an inconspicuous black Honda Accord at the east side of the school so as to not attract any suspicion. Jo was still apprehensive about everything, especially given the fact that she still had no idea who Cole even was or if he was to be trusted, but Rico's idea of installing a tracking app on his phone that would stream data back to his home computer at regular intervals allayed her fears a bit. She'd decided to tag along to see how much "Danny would suck at learning how to drive," and they had all laughed in jest. Danny, though a bit nervous himself, was more than a little happy that he had Jo and Rico there to support him.

As he continued to trudge along the sidewalk, lost in thoughts of tomorrow, the honk of a car jolted him out his reverie. He turned in the direction of the sound, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise when he registered the familiar silvery gray Volkswagen that was unmistakably Lacey's.

Lacey slowed to a stop next to him, lowered her passenger window and wordlessly tilted her head, motioning for him to get in. Danny blinked a few times before easily complying, sliding smoothly into the adjacent seat and staring at Lacey's profile as she drove in the direction of his house.

Realizing that she wasn't going to speak until she was ready, Danny remained silent, occasionally drumming his fingers on his knees as he wracked his brain for a possible reason as to why she'd offer to drive him home, or even why she was driving near his neighborhood to begin with.

By the way his heart thrummed rapidly in his chest, he realized that he was more than eager to find out.

* * *

Lacey parked her car outside of Danny's house, staring ahead as she made an effort to gather her scattered thoughts. She'd dropped Clara off at a friend's house for a weekend sleepover per her mother's request and was heading back when her mind had traveled to Danny's words in the fort. Since then, she could not shake them out of her head. Instead she replayed them over and over again, each time causing her heart to thud harshly in a strange combination of apprehension, anger, and, the most damning of all.

Love.

The fact that she _still_ loved him—never stopped, she realized with acute dread—made her blood boil with indignation.

Because _how dare he_?

How dare he show up after five long years with his beautiful hair and his smile that seemed to melt away all of her worries and his big brown eyes that appeared to look into her very soul?

It wasn't fair at all.

And his confession a few nights ago had thrown her for a loop. So much so that she found herself searching for his eyes whenever he was in the vicinity, and he, without fail, would always meet her gaze as if he _knew_; as if he could read every single thought that filtered through her mind.

Danny had made his motives abundantly clear and each time she searched his eyes for some fragment of a lie, she came out empty-handed. He wasn't lying when he said he was doing it for two things:

His father. Her.

Her. His father.

And she'd be damned if she didn't think that didn't make her knees buckle and her legs feel like jelly.

It made her feel wanted.

It made her feel loved.

It was on a completely different spectrum compared to the adoration showered upon her by Archie, her group of friends, and the general student population. They loved Lacey Porter, the girl that figuratively locked her problems away and buried them so deeply, the girl who fortified her shields and armor to the point where they were near impenetrable. They didn't even know, Lacey Porter, the girl who was irretrievably broken by the abandonment of her father whom she'd known her entire life, the girl who wanted to escape the haunting, self-deprecating thoughts that sloughed off her confidence and inner peace bit by bit.

Yet, Danny's mere presence chipped away at those defenses, and he was _still_ chipping them away with every word and every glance. It was unbelievable and yet she _knew_, all at the same time. She just couldn't explain it.

So when she belatedly realized that she was roaming around his neighborhood, she knew that she'd reached the point of no return. Just as she was about to drive away, she saw his lone silhouette, unmistakably his because of his unique gait. Apparently the rest of her body was light years ahead of her mind because she then found herself driving up to him, motioning him for him to get in.

And now they both sat in silence. He, calmly waiting for her to speak, and her, wracking her mind for a way to flee from this situation without embarrassing herself in the process. Something she felt that she'd be doing a lot of as far as Danny was concerned.

Finally mustering up the courage to speak, Lacey exhaled slowly before beginning.

"Danny—,"

"Lacey—,"

Her mouth snapped shut as she turned her head slightly to stare at him, only to find him smiling at her. "You first, m'lady," he said cheekily.

Lacey, quickly averting her eyes from his smile, turned back to stare out into the dimly lit street. Sighing once again, she said, "Okay, first off—just…face forward. No staring at me whatsoever, okay?" she said, grateful that she was able maintain a bit of steel in her voice as she spoke.

She could see Danny in her peripheral vision leaning back into his seat and facing forward without question. Her heart soared at the fact that he respected her enough to acquiesce to her demand, before squelching the sensation almost immediately. She needed answers and she needed to be levelheaded enough to ask the questions that would get them.

"So you want to race?"

"Yes."

"I'm assuming you've found a sponsor."

"Yes."

"Who is he?"

"Cole Farrell."

Lacey's eyebrows furrowed but her eyes remained glued to the road ahead of her. "I've never heard of him," she admitted slowly.

"He's new…and he goes to our school," he murmured, nearly overwhelmed with the temptation to look at her face and see her reaction; see what she was thinking.

Lacey nodded stiffly, hands gripping the steering wheel a little more forcefully as she processed this information. The fact that she didn't know him—there were only a handful of sponsors in the tri-state area, one of them being Archie—bothered her greatly.

Who is he?

What if he isn't who he said he was?

Why'd he seek out Danny of all people?

What if he was setting Danny up?

What if Danny was in danger?

Lacey swallowed audibly. "And you trust him?" she asked.

Danny couldn't help himself this time around when he turned to look at her, unable to miss the concern, doubt, and fear interwoven in those four words.

"You're worried about me," he said in a hushed voice filled with awe.

Lacey turned towards him, forgetting the rule she'd laid out in the beginning, her breathing becoming labored as her eyes roamed his face, bathed in the muted tones of moonlight above.

She didn't have the slightest clue as to when he became close, but all too quickly, he was just _there_. The scent of him, a heady mix of sandalwood and leather, invaded her senses, making her mind grow fuzzy and her stomach flutter. Their noses almost brushing as his strong hands rose to delicately cradle her face. His eyes—_god,_ _those eyes_—half-lidded and radiating a sense of warmth and something else that aroused something so profound within her, the feel of it so very new. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once.

She barely registered her lips parting of their own free will, just as his own brushed against hers ever so lightly. It was feathery, barely there, really, but the fire ignited in her lower belly was almost too much too bear. She could feel herself trembling at the overwhelming sensations that coursed through her veins, every end of her tingling as an airy whimper escaped her lips once they had parted.

The sound of it was enough for Danny to crash his lips into hers, the force of it nearly knocking her back had it not been for his left hand that snaked around her middle and flattened at the middle of her back. Her hands scrambled for purchase, finally fisting the material of his jacket around his shoulders as their bodies pressed together tightly.

They could both feel their muscles groaning at the awkward position but their lips continued to move feverishly against one another, their heads dipping and tilting in an intricate yet archaic dance as they lost themselves in the fireworks that danced behind their eyelids.

* * *

A/N: So they finally kissed! Man, Danny moves quick, right!? Well, in the next chapter, we'll probably see Danny struggling as he gets a hang of this whole drift racing business. One does simply get a car and drift race! Until next time!


End file.
